Scottish Chileans

Scottish-Chilean

chileno-escocés
Total population
Unknown
Regions with significant populations
Punta Arenas, Magallanes Region
Languages
Spanish. Minority speaks English, Scottish Gaelic and/or Lowland Scots as first language.
Religion
Roman Catholicism, Protestantism (Presbyterianism, Episcopalianism et al.)
Related ethnic groups
Scottish people, Scottish Argentines

Scottish Chileans are Chileans of Scottish descent who came from Scotland and, in some cases, Scots-Irish people from Northern Ireland. A large proportion of Scottish Chileans are sheep farmers in the Magallanes region of the far south of the country, and the city of Punta Arenas has a large Scottish foundation dating back to the 18th century.

A famous Scot, Thomas, Lord Cochrane (later 10th Earl of Dundonald) formed the Chilean Navy to help liberate Chile from Spain in the independence period. Chile developed a strong diplomatic relationship with Great Britain and invited more British settlers to the country in the 19th century.

The Chilean government land deals invited settlement from Scotland and Wales in its southern provinces in the 1840s and 1850s. The number of Scottish Chileans is still higher in Patagonia and Magallanes regions.

The Mackay School, in Viña del Mar is an example of a school set up by Scottish Chileans. The Scottish and other British Chileans are primarily found in higher education as well in economic management and the country's cultural life.

Easter Island

Scottish Chileans also played a prominent role in the annexation of Easter Island/Rapa Nui by Chile.

The Williamson-Balfour Company, a Scottish Chilean firm, controlled many aspects of island life, and in 1903 they created a subsidiary, Compania Explotadora de la Isla de Pascua (CEDIP), up until it was handed over to the Chilean Navy.

Scottish Chilean communities

There is the Gran Santiago metropolitan region; followed by the towns of Antofagasta, Chillan, Concepcion, Coquimbo, Iquique, Osorno, Puerto Aisen, Puerto Montt, Valdivia, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar.

Prominent Scottish-Chileans

• Ian Campbell
• Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
• María Edwards
• Sergio Livingstone, Chilean football goalkeeper.
• Enrique Mac Iver
• Agustín Ross
• Alexander Selkirk
• Andrés Wood, director

See also

• Scottish place names in Chile
• British Chilean