SouthAmerican

Mapuche of Chile

The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-

central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of

present-day Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging

ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common

social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common

linguistic heritage as Mapudungun speakers. Their influence once

extended from the Aconcagua River to the Chiloé Archipelago and

spread later eastward to the Argentine pampa. Today the collective

group makes up over 80% of the indigenous peoples in Chile, and

about 9% of the total Chilean population. They are particularly

concentrated in Araucanía.