Valdivia 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 the newly created Los Ríos Region and is also the capital of Valdivia Province. The commune of Valdivia had 140,559 inhabitants (Valdivianos) of which 127,750 lived in the city according to the 2002 census. The main economic activities include tourism, wood pulp manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Universidad Austral de Chile, founded in 1954, and Centro de Estudios Científicos.
The city of Valdivia and Chiloé Archipelago were once the two southernmost enclaves of the Spanish Empire. From 1645 to 1740, the city depended directly on the Viceroyalty of Peru that financed the building of the Valdivian fort system, which turned Valdivia into one of the most fortified cities of the New World. In the second half of 19th century, Valdivia was the port of entry for German immigrants who were given land and settled in the surrounding areas.
The city was severely damaged by the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960 — the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Debris and destroyed buildings from the earthquake can still be found in the suburban areas — land subsidence and sediments make navigation of the local rivers complex, with some ruined buildings still adjoining the water.
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Other articles related to "valdivia":
... He tried to stop Pedro de Valdivia from invading and establishing fortresses and cities in their lands between 1551 and 1553 at the beginning of the Arauco War with no success ... In 1551 he attacked Valdivia on the banks of the Andalien, but the neighboring fort resisted his assaults ... During part of that year and in 1552 he continued fighting against Valdivia along Cauten River ...
... Cape Valdivia (Norwegian Kapp Valdivia) is the northernmost point on Bouvet Island, a subantarctic island administered by Norway ... To the west lies Cape Circoncision, from which Cape Valdivia is separated by a five kilometre stretch of coastline known as the Morgenstiern Coast ... its name from the German survey ship Valdivia, which fixed the position of Bouvet island in 1898 ...
... In April 1539, Francisco Pizarro authorized Pedro de Valdivia as his lieutenant governor with orders to conquer Chile, but that did not offer monetary aid, which he had to procure on his own ... This Valdivia did associated with the merchant Francisco Martínez Vegaso, captain Alonso de Monroy and Pedro Sanchez de la Hoz, the old secretary of Pizarro that had ...
... Haverbeck Canal Libertad Walk Valdivia cathedral Isla Teja and Torobayo connected by the Río Cruces Bridge Pedro de Valdivia Bridge UACh ...
... Chilean claims back to the conquest of Chile in the 16th century by Pedro de Valdivia, arguing that Pedro de Valdivia obtained rights from the Spanish crown to establish a ... Pedro de Valdivia subsequently founded several cities through southern Chile with the goal of reaching the Strait of Magellan ...