Today, there are about 750,000 Croatian and half-Croatian descendants living in Chile who know or understand a little about Croatian or are completely anthropic and are not aware of their ancestors. Diaspora in Chile is the largest Croatian overseas Diaspora.
Our largest suburban communities of Croatian emigrants and their descendants in Chile are half-croatian Antofagasta, Santiago, Iquique, Punta Arenas and Calamas. The most prominent and influential Croatians in Chile come from the cities of Antofagasta, Iquique and Punta Arenas.
The colonization began in 1864. and Croats were considered as the Austrians because Croatia was part of the Habsburg Monarchy. The reasons for emigration were mostly due to the poor economic situation, the fear of abolishing democracy. They came from rural areas, young and without professional qualifications.
Croats were “late” in the colonization of the Chilean area and had to settle geographically the most unfavorable places – cold, polar south and hot desert north.
The emigration of Croatians to Chile is mostly related to the overseas migration that took place at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the most important port became Antofagasta, the largest Croatian colony in the north of Chile.
The most important area of emigration was Dalmatia, most from the island of Brač.
Only a small number of Croats moved to Chile after the Second World War.
