CHILOé

The Big Island of Chiloe and its (archipelago) are located south of Chile and has an area of over 9,000 km2. It is located in the 10th Region de los Lagos and has a very particular geography and climate, with a mountain range that runs through it from north to south and is known as the Cordillera del Pirulil and Cordillera del Piuchén. It also has smooth hills and plains, where activities such as agricultural crops and forest plantations take place.

It also has interior channels such as the Chacao Channel, which separates the island from the mainland of Puerto Montt. Other important channels are Caucahué, Quicaví, Dalcahue, Quinchao, Queilén, San Pedro, Yelcho, among others.

The climate of Chiloe is classified as rainy maritime temperate, with average temperatures of 11º C and rainfalls that are more abundant in the western part of the island, asthe ones in the higher parts of the mountain range. It is characterized because it rains throughout the year, with cold wind chills. This allows the existence of lush greenery as nalcas, myrtles, quila, larch and tepú, representatives of the Valdivian evergreen forests.

Because of the intervention of man, you can now find thorny bushes that were used to make fences, but they expanded throughout the island. Chiloé is also characterized by the 400 varieties of native potatoes that are cultivated and some of them have given rise to different varieties of potatoes in the world.

In Chiloé you can also find native fauna, with endemic species like the fox and pudú chilote. Other species in this area include dolphins, sea lions, horses and chilote sheep.

Because of its relative isolation from the mainland, in Chiloé great culture was developed, mythology and various folklore to the rest of the country, which can be seen in their music, their dances (cueca and chilote vals), its colorful legends and unique architecture, which can be observed mainly in their churches.

Another of its particularities is their constructions with palafittes over wooden pilars in the water, mainly built in ports such as Castro and even today you can find some homes with this particular style.