Valdivia is part of Northern Patagonia as its wild virgin forest embrace the Patagonian Cordillera following the river Calle Calle down to the Pacific Ocean. It is known in Patagonia the term " Bosque Valdiviano" referring to the primitive virgin forest found in the cordillera valleys of Valdivia which include dense masses of native trees. These Forest are present in some parts of NorthernPatagonia both in Chile and Argentina.
In the 2024 census, Los Ríos Region registered a population of 398,230 inhabitants. By this number, the region is ranked 13th amongChile's sixteen regions and has a share of 2.1% of the national total. 42,7% of the region lives inValdivia, its capital city.[6] Los Ríos Region has a large indigenous population, with 24,3% of census respondents identifying as indigenous in 2024.[7] It has a largeGerman presence along withLos Lagos Region, due to theGerman colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue.
Map of theLos Rios Region and the remaining Los Lagos Region (Grey). Paillaco is in Valdivia province instead of Ranco Province, as initially proposed.
In the beginning of the Chilean Republic, Valdivia was one of the original eight provinces established. The reason for the incorporation was not so much the value of Valdivia,per se, but to minimize the threat to Chilean independence posed by Spaniards in the territory. AsGerman Chilean immigrants arrived in the city during the mid 19th century, the local economy started to develop industries. By 1900, Valdivia was the third most industrialized city in Chile, however, a period of decline started with the world wars. After theGreat Chilean earthquake in 1960, Valdivia fell deeper into decline. Much of the city was destroyed and many people left the city.
In 1974 the military junta reorganized the political divisions of Chile deciding that Valdivia was no longer adequate to be a "first class administrative territory" capital. Hence, it was reclassified into a province withinLos Lagos Region andPuerto Montt was designated capital. Valdivians greatly resented this decision because they felt they were better suited to be the capital than Puerto Montt, holding forth the following arguments:
On October 19, 2005 Chilean PresidentRicardo Lagos signed a bill allowing for the creation of Los Ríos Region ("The Rivers Region"). The bill was approved by Congress on December 19, 2006; it was signed into law on March 16, 2007 and published on April 5, 2007. According to the Roman numeral designation, currently used in Chile, this region is numberXIV (fourteenth). However, steps are being taken to no longer refer to the regions by numbers.
To expand Osorno Province adding to it the comuna ofRío Bueno.
It was proposed thatOsorno Province join as the third province of the new region, instead of remaining the fourth province ofLos Lagos Region, however, in a referendum held in 2006 the residents of that province rejected the idea.
Los Ríos Region lies in the southerntemperate zone and in atectonically active milieu. Four distinct landscape types, or morphological units, can be distinguished in the region. These are from west to east; theCoastal Range, theIntermediate Depression, thePrecordillera and theAndes. These units are oriented parallel to the coast and thesubduction zone there. An exception to this are the eastern hills inMariquina andMáfil that despite belonging to the Coast Range system adrift eastwards and comes very close to the Precordillera cutting the Intermediate Depression in two. The Coastal Cordillera does not exceed the 1000 m in height beingCerro Oncol (715 m) the highest point in thesection north of Valdivia River. The Coast Range is cut byValdivia andBueno Rivers, deeply incised rivers that drains the inland. Most of the Coast is covered by nativeValdivian temperate rain forest, although it has in some parts been substituted by plantations ofexotic species, speciallyDouglas firs andeucalyptus.
Two great agricultural flatlands exist in the region, theMariquina valley andLos Llanos ofLa Unión andRío Bueno. The first one is a tectonic depression in the Coast Range connected to Valdivia byCruces River and the second is the continuation of theIntermediate Depression that re-opens south of Máfil. The flatlands and mayor river valleys form large, open, cultural landscapes used as grassingmeadows or for growing crops.
The Precordillera is a narrow band characterized by hosting a large number of deepglacial piedmont lakes that are dammed bymoraines. These lakes intersect forestedgranitic mountain massifs of up to 1500 m, such asCordillera Negra andCerros de Quimán.The Precordilleran hills and mountains have step slopes to the north and south as the main direction of theQuaternary glaciers where from east to west. Many lake shores are cleared lands where agriculture, settlements and resort areas develop.
The proper Andes extends from the eastern half of the Precordillean lakes to the border withNeuquén Province inArgentina. The Andes in this part of Chile, theZona Sur, has almost escaped the Andeanorogenesis. Here the Andes consist of oldgraniticplutons such as thePanguipulli Batholith and theNorth Patagonian Batholith together with volcanics and some minor areas of sediments andmetasediments. As result of the minimal Andean mountainbuilding the mountains shows little rejuvenation and are mostly shaped by erosive agents, specially glaciers. An exception to this are the several volcanoes that rises east of the piedmont lakes, this volcanoes are among the most active in Chile and as result their form are influenced by the eruptions; either in constructive manner such asVillarrica Volcano or more destructive likeQuetrupillán. The fact that these volcanoes have the ability to build up cones and rise again after erosion and explosive eruptions makes many of them the highest mountains in the region andZona Sur. The volcanoes of Los Ríos Regions belong to theSouthern Volcanic Zone of Andes, whose current activity front is located about 200 km west from the main Andean cordillera, this makes volcanoes stand out as isolated snow-covered cones of more than 2000 m, above the lower mountains that rarely pass the 1500 m. The main cordillera makes up thecontinental divide and are therefore according to the1881 Argentina-Chile treaty the border between the two nations.Faults and glacier action have however made a gap at the site ofHuahum Pass where waters from the eastern Argentine slopes drains westward to the Pacific Mountains at the cordillera may reach at most some 2000 m in height. Andean valleys of Los Ríos Region are deep and broad and either used for raising cattle or for wood lodging, as well as tourism and protection ofbiodiversity. These glacial valleys are placed above oldMiocene rivers and faults. The chief fault is theLiquiñe-Ofqui Fault that crosses the whole region from north to south allowing numerous valleys to develop above it. TheLiquiñe-Ofqui Fault is tectonically active causing minor tremors and is also believed responsible by geologists for the alignment of the volcanoes of the southern section of the Southern Volcanic Zone. Along Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault there are severalhotsprings such asLiquiñe,Chihuío,Termas Geométricas,Termas Vergara andTermas de Coñaripe.
The region owes its name to the river network that converge inValdivia River at the city ofValdivia. These rivers drain most of northern Los Ríos Region as well as parts ofAraucanía Region andNeuquén Province inArgentina. A second large river,Bueno River is responsible for the draining of the southern parts of the region includingRanco Lake, Chile's 4th largest lake. Bueno River and its tributaryPilmaiquén River also drain large areas ofOsorno Province and form the southern boundary of the region. These two big river systems receive a continuous inflow of water due to being fed by lakes and lake chains in the Andes. Valdivia River is provided by theSeven Lakes chain plusLácar Lake andBueno River fromRanco,Maihue andPuyehue Lake. The large lakes in the interior are fed by rainwater and snow melt from the higher mountains.Glaciers and semipermanent snow patches have relatively low share flow volume of the main rivers.
TheValdivia International Film Festival (FICV) is the most important film event in Chile, one of the most important worldwide and in Latin America. It has been held since 1994, generally during the month of October.[8]
The Valdivia Book Fair is organized annually by the Municipal Cultural Corporation of the city, with the support of the Government of Los Ríos, in the Saval Park. In this context, several authors born in the Los Ríos Region stand out, such asMaha Vial,[9] Iván Espinoza Riesco,[10]José Baroja,[11] Aldo Astete Cuadra,[12] Efraín Miranda Cárdenas, to name a few.
TheValdivia International Jazz Festival was born in July 2000. Today it is considered the oldest festival in Chile and one of the most important in this musical genre in the Southern Cone.[14]
^In the 2002 Census indigenous peoples were calculated on the basis of selfidentification. The dominant indigenous peoples in Los Ríos Region areHuilliche andMapuche, while indigenous peoples from other areas of Chile makes up a tiny minority, located mainly in Valdivia.
^"XIV Región de Los Ríos" [XIV Los Ríos Region](PDF) (in Spanish). Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism. May 2014. Retrieved21 October 2025.
^"Región de Los Ríos" (in Spanish). Regional Government of Los Ríos. Retrieved21 October 2025.
^"Resultados Región de Los Ríos Censo 2024" [Results of the 2024 Census in the Los Ríos Region](PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. Retrieved18 October 2025.
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