Los Lagos is a region in Southern Chile where ski resorts, hot springs and recreational fishing draw visitors. Known as the lake district of Chile, the region hosts Monte Verde, one of the oldest archaeological sites of the Americas.
The largest indigenous group of the region are the Huilliche who lived in the area before the arrival of the Spanish. The Spanish crown settled Chiloé Archipelago in 1567, while the rest of the region begun to be slowly colonized by non-indigenous people only in the late 18th century. In the 1850s Germans arrived to colonize the shores of Llanquihue Lake under a Chilean state-sponsored program.
Los Lagos Region economy is dominated by the service sector but based in fishing, salmon aquaculture, forestry and cattle farming.
El Tepual Airport lies a few miles west of Puerto Montt and Cañal Bajo Carlos Hott Siebert Airport a few miles east of Osorno. Also east of Osorno, the Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass is a major mountain pass across the Andes to Argentina via Route 215.
The main road networks in the region are:
Los Lagos Region is characterized by its abundant nature and by the large number of protected wild areas (both public and private).
Activities such as rural tourism, fly fishing, bird watching, as well as flora and fauna in general, as well as other important adventure sports such as rafting or kayaking, stand out, two activities that gather worldwide interest. thanks to the quality of its rivers and lakes. Thus, the natural resources that base tourism are the great source of attraction that this territory has as a tourist destination for short and long-distance tourists, where the offer is increasingly varied and of better quality, being oriented to philosophies for tourism. in wild areas in harmony with nature and their communities (such as ecotourism).
The gastronomic cultural heritage of Los Lagos has a strong connection to fishing, agriculture, livestock. Also added to the region's own gastronomy is the cultural mix brought by the arrival of migrants, thus enriching the local heritage in this area.
Some of the most representative dishes from Chiloé and the neighboring areas in Llanquihue and Palena are: