Why Angol
Angol serves as the administrative capital of Malleco Province, situated within the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. Positioned at the base of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta, the settlement lies directly along the Vergara River. Historically, this waterway enabled navigation via small boats connecting outward to the Bío-Bío River and the coastal city of Concepción. Due to this strategic geographic placement, the site played a prominent role during the prolonged Arauco War.
The history of the area is defined by numerous cycles of establishment, conflict, and destruction. Spanish forces first constructed a settlement named the fort of Los Confines on the site in 1553 under Pedro de Valdivia, though Mapuche forces quickly forced its abandonment following the Battle of Tucapel later that year. In 1560, Governor García Hurtado de Mendoza established San Andrés de Angol just north of the initial site, naming it after his father, the viceroy of Peru, while it also became commonly known as Ciudad de Los Infantes. This settlement was subsequently ruined in 1599 after the Disaster of Curalaba.
Subsequent attempts to establish a lasting presence occurred throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries under various names. Rebuilt as San Luis de Angol in 1611 and later as San Francisco de la Vega in 1637, the settlement was repeatedly abandoned or destroyed, including abandonment under the 1641 Peace of Quillin. A later effort in 1695 known as Santo Tomás de Colhue was destroyed during Mapuche uprisings in 1723 and 1766, leaving the location abandoned for decades.
The definitive modern city of Angol was established on December 6, 1862, when Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez erected a fortress to serve as a base for military campaigns. Officially designated a city in 1871, Angol gained rail connections to Santiago in 1876 and served as an operational center during the final pacification efforts in 1881. It subsequently grew into an economic and administrative hub for incoming Chilean and foreign settlers who inhabited the surrounding territory.
Today, Angol spans an area of nearly 1,195 square kilometers and is home to a population of approximately 53,000 residents, the vast majority of whom live in urban areas. In early 2010, the city experienced significant effects from a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake, which led to the deployment of a United States military field hospital to assist casualties from the tremor and ensuing tsunami.
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