Araucanía (historic region)

Map showing the "old" and the "new" frontiers of Mapuche Araucanía established by 1870 through the Occupation of the Araucanía.

Araucanía or Araucana was the Spanish name given to the region of Chile inhabited by the Mapuche peoples known as the Moluche (also known as Araucanos by the Spanish) in the 18th century. Prior to the Spanish Conquest of Chile, the lands of the Moluche lay between the Itata River and Toltén River. Following the great rising of the Moluche and Huilliche after the Battle of Curalaba in 1598 during the Arauco War, the Spanish were expelled from south of the Bío-Bío River. After many decades of further warfare, the bounds of Araucania were recognized by the Spanish as being between the Bío-Bío River and Toltén River. This old region of Araucanía now is divided between the Bío-Bío Region and the Araucanía Region of Chile.

See also

• La Araucana
• Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia
• Picunche
• La Frontera (geographical region) of Chile

Sources

• Gomez de Vidaurre, Historia Geografica, Natural y Civil Del Reino de Chile, Tomo II; Coleccion de historiadores de Chile, Tomo XV, Imprenta Ercilla, Santiago, 1889 Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Aug 4, 2005 (History of Chile 1535-1764)
• Juan Ignatius Molina, The Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili, Vol II., Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, London, 1809