Culture of Chile

The culture of Chile is one of a relatively homogeneous society where historically its geographical isolation and remoteness has played a key role. Since colonial times, the Chilean culture has been a mix of Spanish colonial elements and indigenous (essentially Mapuche) culture.

Traditional Chilean culture is of rural and agrarian origin, where horsemen, the Huaso of Central Chile, are the most emblematic symbol. While Chile has a geographically diverse territory, the lifestyle of the Central Chile has not been possible everywhere and different customs exists towards the north and south of Chile. Additionally, while some regions of Chile have very strong indigenous heritage, such as Araucanía Region, Easter Island, and Arica y Parinacota Region, some regions lacks considerable indigenous communities and a few other regions have noteworthy non-Spanish European immigrant heritage.

Chilean culture also varies along the class spectra and among age groups. Youth culture has existed in Chile since ever since the Nueva ola movement of the 1960s. Media coverage has since the 1990s shown the existence of youth subculture in the major cities, particularly Santiago.