There has been a community of Greeks in Chile since the sixteenth century. The Greek community in Chile is estimated to have 150,000 descendants. Most reside either in the

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 or in the

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

area.

Immigration

The first immigrants from Greece arrived during the sixteenth century from

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, and surnamed "

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Antoinette Candia-Bailey, American academic administrator * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-It ...

" after the island's capital, the current

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

. The surname, although at present, is very disconnected from its ancient origins. The majority of Greek immigrants arrived in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century, some as part of their spirit of adventure and escape from the rigors of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the burning of Smyrna in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, although many Greeks had already settled in

, including crews of the ships commanded by

Arturo Prat Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean Navy officer and lawyer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, in ...

for the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

(1879–1883) in the naval battle of Iquique (boatswain ''Constantine Micalvi''). Amid this flood of foreigners who populated northern Chilean appeared the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. There were numerous Collectivité Hellenic whose records were listed in the newspaper El Mercurio of Antofagasta, which said that between 1920 and 1935 there were about 4,000 Greeks in the city, and another 3,000 in

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 ...

offices. In 1926 the first women's association for excellence, filóptoxos (friends of the poor) was set up, chaired by ''Xrisí Almallotis''. Since then there have been four or five generations of descendants of Greeks. Some have moved south and are grouped mainly in

and

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 ...

. Others returned to Greece after the First World War, but most of the immigrants stayed in their new country and formed Greek-Chilean families. Constantino Kochifas Carcamo, owner of cruise company Cruceros Skorpios in

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

, is a member of this community.

Antofagasta

Antofagasta is a community in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

established in 1890, notable for a town anniversary on 14 February, in which foreign communities set up a stand. Many of the original families moved to

and Valparaíso, however there are still an estimated seventy current residents who were born in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Notable people

* Miguel Littin, film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. * Ángela Jeria, mother of Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile. * Irina Karamanos, first lady of Chile.

References

External links

Bilateral relations between Greece and Chile

Main Greek association in Chile

Greek association of Antofagasta

Greek association of Coquimbo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greeks In Chile European diaspora in Chile

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 ...

Immigration

Antofagasta

Notable people

See also

References

External links