Region of O'Higgins
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Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region VI Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins |
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| Region of Chile | |||
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 Map of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region |
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| Coordinates: 34°10′02″S 70°43′37″W / 34.16722°S 70.72694°WCoordinates: 34°10′02″S 70°43′37″W / 34.16722°S 70.72694°W | |||
| Country |
 Chile
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| Capital | Rancagua | ||
| Provinces | Cachapoal, Colchagua, Cardenal Caro | ||
| Government | |||
| • Intendant | Pablo Silva Amaya (PS) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 16,387.0 km2 (6,327.1 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 14 | ||
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) | ||
| Population (2012) | |||
| • Total | 851,406 | ||
| • Rank | 6 | ||
| • Density | 52/km2 (130/sq mi) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | CL-LI | ||
| Website | Official website (Spanish) | ||
The VI Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region (Spanish: VI Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins), often shortened to O'Higgins Region, is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It is subdivided into three provinces. It is named in honour of Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, one of Chile's founding fathers.
The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the east by the Republic of Argentina, to the north by the Valparaíso and Santiago Metropolitan Regions, and to the south by the Maule Region. It extends approximately between the parallels of 33°51’ and 35°01’ south latitude, and between the meridian of 70°02’ west longitude and the Pacific Ocean.
The capital and largest city of the region is Rancagua. The second major town is San Fernando.
In pre-Quaternary times extensive Nothofagus forests covered much of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region.
The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region is part of the very restricted range of the endangered Chilean Wine Palm, Jubaea chilensis; in prehistoric times this Chilean endemic tree had a significantly larger range.
From 9000 BCE to 300 BCE (the Archaic Period), the humans who inhabited the region moved between the coast and the valley as well as the Andes. At sites such as Pichilemu, Cáhuil and Bucalemu, they left trash deposits or shell middens bearing testimony to their raids. During the Agroalfarero Period (300 BCE - 1470 CE), the inhabitants experienced changes in their way of life, the most important being the cultivation of vegetables and the manufacture of clay objects. From 600 CE onwards, they started cultivating beans, maize, squashes, pumpkins and quinoa. All of these except quinoa and some types of maize required irrigation, which prompted them to move to the banks of creeks and rivers. During this period, groups of people lived in Quincha houses with straw roofs, in the vicinity of irrigation channels and horticulture crops, a style of life attributable to the Promaucaes or Picunches and to the Chiquillanes. During the Colonial Period (1541 CE to 1811 CE), the region became dominated, like the rest of the country, by the Spanish, and a system of ranching became predominant.
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