Mapuche language in the context of Los Vilos

Aymara (Aymara pronunciation: [ajˈmaɾa] ; also Aymar aru) is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over one million speakers. Aymara, along with Spanish and Quechua, is an official language in Bolivia and Peru. It is also spoken, to a much lesser extent, by some communities in northern Chile and northern Argentina, where it is a recognized minority language.

Academic sources confirm that Aymara is spoken in Argentina, particularly in the provinces of Jujuy and Salta. Aymara is recognized as one of the indigenous language families within the country, often grouped alongside others such as Quechua, Mapuche, and Guaraní. The University of Arizona identifies the Kolla people, who speak Aymara, as having a significant presence in these provinces.

The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each equipped with a primary mirror that measures 8.2 metres (27 ft) in diameter. These optical telescopes, named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun (all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language), are generally used separately but can be combined to achieve a very high angular resolution. The VLT array is also complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) with 1.8-metre (5.9 ft) apertures.

The VLT is capable of observing both visible and infrared wavelengths. Each individual telescope can detect objects that are roughly four billion times fainter than what can be seen with the naked eye. When all the telescopes are combined, the facility can achieve an angular resolution of approximately 0.002 arcsecond. In single telescope mode, the angular resolution is about 0.05 arcseconds.

General Carrera Lake (Chilean part, officially renamed in 1959) or Lake Buenos Aires (Argentine part) is a deep lake located in Patagonia and shared by Argentina and Chile. Both names are internationally accepted, while the autochthonous name of the lake is Chelenko, which means "stormy waters" in Aonikenk. Another historical name is Coluguape from Mapuche, a derivative of this name is applied to Colhué Huapí Lake after Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno reached this lake in 1876 conflating it with Coluguape (General Carrera Lake).

The lake is of glacial origin and is surrounded by the Andes mountain range. The lake drains to the Pacific Ocean on the west through the Baker River. During the last glaciation the lake drained to the Atlantic through Deseado River.

Fitzroya is a monotypic genus in the cypress family. The single living species, Fitzroya cupressoides, is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains and coastal regions of southern Chile, and only to the Argentine Andes, where it is an important member of the Valdivian temperate forests. Common names include lawal (in Mapudungun, Hispanicized as lahual), alerce ([aˈleɾse], "larch" in Spanish), and Patagonian cypress. The genus was named in honour of Robert FitzRoy.

The genus is ancient with it dating back to the Cretaceous of South America. Fossils are also known from the Paleogene of Tasmania, Australia (particularly from the now extinct Fitzroya tasmanensis).

Río Negro (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o ˈneɣɾo]; Black River) is the main river of Patagonia in terms of the size of its drainage basin, its associated agricultural produce and population living at its shores. In eastern Patagonia it is also the largest by flow rate. The river flows through the Argentine province of Río Negro which is named after it. Its name comes from the literal translation of the Mapuche term Curu Leuvu, although the water is more green than black. Formerly, it was also known as "river of the willows" because of the big number of weeping willows that grow along the bank. It is 635 km in length.

It originates from the junction of the Limay River and Neuquén River at the border with the Neuquén Province, and flows southeast incised through steppes to the Atlantic Ocean at 41°01′20″S 62°47′25″W / 41.0223°S 62.7903°W / -41.0223; -62.7903, near El Cóndor beach resort some 30 km (19 mi) downstream from Viedma, Río Negro province's capital.

San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name Vuriloche, meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (Spanish pronunciation: [baɾiˈlotʃe]), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the department of the same name. It is located in the foothills of the Patagonian Andes on the southern shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake, near the border with Chile. With a population of 135,755 according to the 2022 census, Bariloche is a mid-sized city by national standards but holds significant regional importance. It is not only the most populous city in its province but also the largest in the Patagonian Andes, and the third largest in the entire Argentine Patagonia, following Neuquén and Comodoro Rivadavia. Its urban zone is characterized by its low density and has an area of more than 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi), extending longitudinally from east to west for about 50 kilometres (31 mi).

Bariloche's economy is strongly based on tourism; it is the country's third most visited destination after Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata. It is the most popular city in all of Patagonia. It attracts visitors year-round for its scenic natural setting including Nahuel Huapi National Park and other reserves, offering a range of activities such as skiing in winter and water sports and hiking in summer, alongside diverse accommodations and dining options. The nearby Cerro Catedral is the largest ski resort in South America.

The Huarpes or Warpes are an Indigenous people of Argentina, living in the Cuyo region. Some scholars assume that in the Huarpe language, this word means "sandy ground", but according to Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua general del Reino de Chile, written by Andrés Febrés in Lima in 1765, the word Cuyo comes from Araucanian cuyum puulli, meaning "sandy land" or "desert country".

Valdivia (Spanish pronunciation: [balˈdiβja]; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately 15 km (9 mi) east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of Los Ríos Region and is also the capital of Valdivia Province. The national census of 2025 recorded the commune of Valdivia as having 110,980 inhabitants (Valdivianos), of whom 150,048 were living in the city. The main economic activities of Valdivia include tourism, wood pulp manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Austral University of Chile, founded in 1954, the Centro de Estudios Científicos and one of Chile's three environmental courts.

The city of Valdivia and the Chiloé Archipelago were once the two southernmost outliers of the Spanish Empire. From 1645 to 1740, the city depended directly on the Viceroyalty of Peru, which financed the building of the Valdivian fort system that turned Valdivia into one of the most fortified cities of the New World. In the mid-19th century, Valdivia was the port of entry for German immigrants who settled in the city and surrounding areas.

The Moluche ("people from where the sun sets" or "people from the west") or Nguluche are an Indigenous people of Chile. Their language was a dialect of Mapudungun, a Mapuche language. At the beginning of the Conquest of Chile by the Spanish Empire the Moluche lived in what came to be known as Araucanía. The Moluche were called Araucanos ("Araucanians") by the Spanish.

Descendants of the Moluche, Pehuenche and Huilliche later migrated into Argentina in later centuries mixing with the local tribes. This Araucanization made their language the common spoken language in the region.

Malón (from the Mapudungun maleu, to inflict damage to the enemy) is the name given to plunder raids carried out by Mapuche warriors, who rode horses into Spanish, Chilean and Argentine territories from the 17th to the 19th centuries, as well as to their attacks on rival Mapuche factions. Historian Juan Ignacio Molina said the Mapuche considered the malón to be a means of obtaining justice:

Leaders such as Lientur used the malón against European colonists: it consisted of a fast surprise attack by a number of mounted Mapuche warriors against the white (huinca) populations, ranches, settlements and fortifications in Chile and Argentina, with the aim of obtaining horses, cattle, provisions, and captives, often young women. The rapid attack without formal order did not give the targets time to organise any defence, and it left behind a devastated population unable to retaliate or pursue.

Inti (Quechua: inti, lit. 'sun') is the ancient Inca sun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since the Inca divided his identity according to the stages of the sun. Worshiped as a patron deity of the Inca Empire, Pachacuti is often linked to the origin and expansion of the Inca Sun Cult. The most common belief was that Inti was born of Viracocha, who had many titles, chief among them being the God of Creation.

The word inti is not of Quechua origin but a loanword from Puquina. Borrowing from Puquina explains why historically unrelated languages such as Quechua, Aymara and Mapuche have similar words for the Sun. Similitudes are not only linguistic but also symbolically as in Mapuche and Central Andean cosmology the Sun (Inti/Antu) and the Moon (Killa/Cuyen) are spouses.