{"id":48604,"date":"2025-08-05T18:51:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T22:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/produncan.cl\/the-union-los-rios-region-history-geography-economy-and-attractions\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T11:44:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T15:44:29","slug":"the-union-los-rios-region-history-geography-economy-and-attractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/produncan.cl\/en\/the-union-los-rios-region-history-geography-economy-and-attractions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Union (Los R\u00edos Region): history, geography, economy and attractions"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Union is the capital of the Province of Ranco, in the south of the Region of Los R\u00edos of Chile, with about 39,447 inhabitants according to the last official census. It is located in the valley of the Bueno River, 40 km north of Osorno and 80 km south-east of Valdivia. Its position near Lake Ranco and surrounded by Cordilleras gives it privileged landscapes and a temperate rainy (ocean) climate, with rainfall distributed all year round. Thanks to this constant humidity the region maintains green meadows and fertile soils for agriculture and livestock: the maximum winter temperatures are between 6 \u00b0 C and 11 \u00b0 C, while in summer they can exceed 30 \u00b0 C<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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History<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\"CASONA\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"COLEGIO\"<\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The current territory of La Uni\u00f3n was populated from before the arrival of the Spaniards by Mapuche-huilliche communities called “cudicans,” which controlled from the Llollelhue River to the Bueno River and which lived in communities organized by caciques (Anqui\u00f1ir, Catriguala, Manquep\u00e1n, among others). The prosperity of the area, including gold launchers, attracted colonial attention: in 1788 Ambrosio O’Higgins founded the mission and strong Our Lady of the Pilar to exploit its resources.<\/p>

At the end of the 18th century, a regional indigenous uprising took place in September 1792, led by Queipul and Futa\u00f1irre, in which the Spanish mission and fort were burned. This revolt and the consequent dispersion of the populations generated a space that, a few years later, favored Chilean expansion in the area. In 1795-1796 the Supreme Director Bernardo O’Higgins travelled through the area (towards Valdivia and back to Valparaiso) and proposed the foundation of an intermediate city between Osorno and Valdivia. In January 1796 he traced the Villa Alcudia by the river Bueno, but this population did not prosper.<\/p>

With Chile’s independence, in 1821 the governor of Valdivia, Cayetano Letelier, asked the supreme director Bernardo O’Higgins to establish a town on the plain that was then called “El Llano” (between the Bueno and Traigu\u00e9n rivers). Following administrative efforts, on 15 February 1827 the Provincial Assembly of Valdivia officially decreed the creation of the Free Villa of San Juan in the Llano de Negr\u00f3n. (According to historian Osvaldo Leal, the people became known as San Jos\u00e9 de La Uni\u00f3n.) That was the formal origin of the town. However, due to local disputes the villa did not settle on the initial site planned and in 1843 the mayor Jos\u00e9 Ignacio Garc\u00eda determined its final establishment between the Llollelhue and Radimadi rivers, in the place of the present city.<\/p>

Finally, in 1890 the name La Uni\u00f3n was officially imposed, in reference to the encounter of its Llollelhue and Radimadi rivers to the south of the city. (Another interpretation of the name, of Mapuche origin, suggests that it comes from “daglipulli,” the word Mapudungun which means “union of spirits.”) Throughout the 19th century the area received German settlers: it remains a mark of this in the traditional architecture that still survives in the city. In 1851, the Prussian naturalist Rodolfo Amando Philippi, invited by his brother Bernardo Philippi, arrived at the San Juan Fundo, contributing to the scientific and cultural development of the commune.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Featured historical chronology:<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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