Mapuche in the context of "Toqui"

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, extending along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. According to the 2024 census, Chile had an enumerated population of 18.5 million. The country covers a territorial area of 756,102 square kilometers (291,933 sq mi), sharing borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. It also administers several Pacific islands, including Juan Fernández, Isla Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island, and claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica as the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The capital and largest city is Santiago, and the national language is Spanish.

Spain conquered and colonized the region in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca rule; however, they failed to conquer the autonomous tribal Mapuche people who inhabited what is now south-central Chile. Chile emerged as a relatively stable authoritarian republic in the 1830s after their 1818 declaration of independence from Spain. During the 19th century, Chile experienced significant economic and territorial growth, putting an end to Mapuche resistance in the 1880s and gaining its current northern territory in the War of the Pacific (1879–83) by defeating Peru and Bolivia.

The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities and force Mapuches into servitude. It subsequently evolved over time into phases comprising drawn-out sieges, slave-hunting expeditions, pillaging raids, punitive expeditions, and renewed Spanish attempts to secure lost territories. Abduction of women and war rape was common on both sides.

The Spaniards penetrated into Mapuche territory during the conquest of Chile until the Battle of Curalaba in 1598 and the following destruction of the Seven Cities led to the establishment of a clear frontier between the Spanish domains and the land of the independent Mapuche. From the 17th to the late 18th century a series of parliaments were held between royal governors and Mapuche lonkos and the war devolved to sporadic pillaging carried out by both sides.

The Occupation of Araucanía or Pacification of Araucanía (1861–1883) was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean military and settlers into Mapuche territory which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Chilean national territory. Pacification of Araucanía was the expression used by the Chilean authorities for this process. The conflict was concurrent with Argentine campaigns against the Mapuche (1878–1885) aimed at establishing dominance over Patagonia and Chile's wars with Spain (1865–1866) and with Peru and Bolivia (1879–1883).

The Mapuche people had a history of resistance to Spanish conquest with the area known as Araucanía remaining de facto independent through the colonial era. Following Chile's War of Independence against the Spanish Empire, relations between the nascent republic and the Mapuches of Araucanía remained mostly amicable. However economic and geopolitical reasons together with increasingly negative attitudes towards the Mapuche made Chilean authorities decide to seek an incorporation of Araucanía, by force if necessary. The Mapuche chiefdoms responded in different ways, some aligned with the central government, a substantial number followed the lead of the Arribanos in violently opposing the advance of Chilean settlers and soldiers into the region, while some others opted for neutrality. For the first ten years (1861−1871), the Mapuches were unable to prevent Chile from advancing its positions but at time were able to defeat in detail small detachments while avoiding large battles. Hostilities were minimal in the decade that followed, this period was mostly peaceful but ended when the Mapuches were unable to militarily oppose a large Chilean army that in March 1881 penetrated from the north to Cautín River, putting most of the territory under Chilean rule or at least occupation. In November 1881, the Mapuches made a last-ditch effort to regain control of their territory, launching coordinated strikes against Chilean settlements across the region. With most of these attacks repelled and Mapuche forces defeated within a matter of days, Chile went on to consolidate its conquests in the years that followed.

The Araucanía (/ˌærɔːˈkeɪniə/ ARR-aw-KAY-nee-ə), La Araucanía Region (Spanish: Región de La Araucanía pronounced [(ˌ)aɾawkaˈni.a]) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities include Angol and Villarrica.

Chile did not incorporate the lands of the Araucanía Region until the 1880s, when it occupied the area to end resistance by the indigenous Mapuche by both military and political means. This opened up the area for Chilean and European immigration and settlement.

Mapudungun (from mapu 'land' and dungun 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) or Mapuche (/məˈpuːtʃi/ mə-POO-che, Mapuche and Spanish: [maˈputʃe]; from mapu 'land' and che 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') is a language, either a language isolate or member of the small Araucanian family related to Huillichespoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people. It was formerly known as Araucanian, the name given to the Mapuche by the Spanish. The Mapuche avoid this term as a remnant of Spanish colonialism.

Mapudungun is not an official national language of Chile or Argentina, having received virtually no government support throughout its history. However, since 2013, Mapuche, along with Spanish, has been granted the status of an official language by the local government of Galvarino, one of the many communes of Chile. It is not used as a language of instruction in either country's educational system despite the Chilean government's commitment to provide full access to education in Mapuche areas in southern Chile. There is an ongoing political debate over which alphabet to use as the standard alphabet of written Mapudungun.

Chileans (Spanish: Chilenos, pronounced [tʃiˈlenos]) are an ethnic group and nation native to the country of Chile and its neighboring insular territories. Most Chileans share a common culture, history, ancestry and language. The overwhelming majority of Chileans are the product of varying degrees of admixture between white ethnic groups (predominantly Basques and Spaniards) with peoples indigenous to Chile's modern territory (predominantly Mapuche). Chile is a multilingual and multicultural society, but an overwhelming majority of Chileans have Spanish as their first language and either are Christians (mainly Catholic) or have a Christian cultural background. There is a relatively large irreligious minority.

However, many Chileans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Chile. This has resulted due to immigration to Chile throughout its history, and thus the term "Chilean" can now also include people identifying with the country whose connection may not be ethnic, but cultural, historical, legal, or residential. For most modern Chileans, several or all of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their Chilean identity.

Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe βalˈdiβja]; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first Governor of Colonial Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1535, where he served as a soldier under the Pizarro brothers in Peru, gradually rising in power.

In 1540, Valdivia led an expedition of 150 Spaniards and 1,000 Peruvian Indians into Chile, where he defeated a large force of indigenous warriors and founded Santiago in 1541. He extended Spanish rule south to the Biobío River in 1546, fought again in Peru (1546–1548), and returned to Chile as Royal Governor in 1549. In 1550, he expanded Spanish rule further south into Araucanía, where he founded the city of Concepción and the eponymous city of Valdivia. He was captured and killed by Mapuche Indians during the Arauco War in 1553.

Indigenous peoples in Chile or Native Chileans (Spanish: Chilenos nativos), are Chileans who have predominant or total Amerindian or Rapa Nui ancestry. According to the 2017 census, almost 2,185,792 people declare having Indigenous origins. Most Chileans are of partially Indigenous descent; however, Indigenous identification and its legal ramifications are typically reserved to those who self-identify with and are accepted within one or more Indigenous groups.

The Mapuche, with their traditional lands in south-central Chile, account for approximately 80% of the total Indigenous population. There are also small populations of Aymara, Quechua, Atacameño, Qulla (Kolla), Diaguita, Yahgan (Yámana), Rapa Nui and Kawésqar (Alacalufe) people in other parts of the country, as well as many other groups such as Caucahue, Chango, Picunche, Chono, Tehuelche, Cunco and Selkʼnam.

Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola (c. 1549 – December 24, 1598) was a Spanish-Basque soldier and Royal Governor of Colonial Chile. He was the grand-nephew of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

Óñez de Loyola first gained renown by capturing Inca leader Túpac Amaru, which put an end to the Neo-Inca State. He later fought in the Arauco War after being appointed the Governor of Chile. He was defeated and killed by Mapuche warriors at the Battle of Curalaba, which paved the way for the Destruction of the Seven Cities.