English Chileans ( Spanish: ''Anglochilenos'') are citizens of

Chile 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, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

who are descended from English emigrants. Since the Port of Valparaíso opened its coasts to free trade in 1811, the English began to congregate in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

. The first to arrive brought with them tools, articles of china, wool and cotton, with instructions to return with copper and hemp. This was the first exchange of what would become a deep-rooted commercial relationship between the UK and

. In

they constructed their largest and most important colony, bringing with them neighborhoods of English character, schools, social,

sports clubs A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

business organizations A business entity is an entity that is formed and administered as per corporate law in order to engage in business activities, charitable work, or other activities allowable. Most often, business entities are formed to sell a product or a serv ...

and

periodicals Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

. This influence is apparent in unique areas of Chilean society today, such as the bank and the national marina, as well as in certain social activities popular in the country, such as

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, horse racing, and drinking

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

. The English eventually numbered more than 32,000 during the port of Valparaíso's boom period during the

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

bonanza at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The English colony was also important in the northern zone of the country during the saltpeter boom, in the ports of

Iquique Iquique () is a port List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the At ...

and Pisagua. The ''King of Saltpeter'',

John Thomas North John Thomas North (30 January 1842 – 5 May 1896) was an English investor and businessman. North was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of a coal merchant and a churchwarden. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to millwrights and engine ...

, was the principal backer of nitrate mining. The English legacy was reflected in the streets of the historic district of the city of

, with the foundation of various institutions, such as the Club Hípico (Racing Club). Nevertheless, said presence came to an end with the saltpeter crisis during the 1930s. An important contingent of English immigrants also settled in the present-day region of Magallanes. In the same way, they established English families in other areas of the country, such as

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Coquimbo, the Araucanía, and Chiloé.

Notable people

* John Williams Wilson * Robert Winthrop Simpson * Ignacio Walker *

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the 30th president of Chil ...

, former

President of Chile The president of Chile (), officially the president of the Republic of Chile (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both Government of Chile, government administration and s ...

* Francisco Hudson * Juan Pablo Bennett * Julio Canessa Roberts * Joaquín Edwards Bello * Agustín Edwards Mac Clure * Jorge Edwards * Alejandro Foxley * Dominique Gallego Williams * Laurence Golborne * Marmaduke Grove * Luis Eduardo Hicks * Stewart Iglehart * Gustavo Leigh *

Bernardo Leighton Bernardo Leighton Guzmán (August 16, 1909, Negrete, Bío Bío Province – January 26, 1995, Santiago) was a Chilean Christian Democrat Party of Chile, Christian Democratic Party politician and lawyer. He served as Ministries of Chile, mini ...

* Ofelia Martner * Ana Reeves * Felipe Seymour * Robert Winthrop Simpson * Robert Souper Howard * Roberto Souper * María Elena Swett * Sussan Taunton Thomas * Willy Topp * Carlos Villanueva Roland * Juan Williams * Alexander Bryan Witt * Ben Brereton Díaz

References

{{Ethnic groups in Chile European diaspora in Chile

Notable people

See also

References