Indians in Chile form one of the smaller populations of the Indian diaspora. The large majority of them of Sindhi descent. A few Indians went to Chile in the 1920s. Later more Indians migrated there in the 1980s - not only from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, but also from

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, the

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and

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History

Some migrants from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(including

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) arrived to work in mining, railroads and agriculture in the early 20th century, usually under

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-owned corporations. However most Indians in Chile are new arrivals in the 1980s and the 1990s for economic reasons. The first immigrants from India (mostly of Sindhi descent) arrived to Magallanes (present-day

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...

) in 1904 and worked as traders. Their descendants moved to different parts of the country, though mostly to

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 ...

. Descendants of Sindhi migrants to Chile also live on the northern coast (i.e.

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

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

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 ...

). A second large wave of Indian immigration occurred in the 1980s. These are the people who set up the Indian Association of Santiago. As of 2012, there are about 1500 people of Indian origin living in the country, mostly in Iquique, Santiago and Punta Arenas. About 40 per cent of them have obtained Chilean nationality.

Business and employment

There are various commercial opportunities in Chile for Indian immigrants and multinational firms have begun to arrive and along with them Indian engineers.

Notable individuals

* Jennifer Mayani - model and actress

References

{{Portal bar, India, 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 ...

Chile–India relations

History

Business and employment

Notable individuals

See also

References