Chilean Central Valley

This article is about the valley between the Chilean Coast Range and the Andes. For the wine district, see Central Valley (wine region).

The traditional Central Valley Marked with Red, the geological continental Central Valley includes the area with Pink, and the full geological Central Valley is marked with the three colors.

The Central Valley (Spanish: Valle Central), Intermediate Depression or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Costal Range and the Andes Mountains. The central valley should not be confused with Central Chile that encompasses part of the valley. At its broadest definition, the geological one, the Central Valley has a discontinuous extension from Pampa del Tamarugal at 20° S to Ofqui Isthmus at 46° S. The viticultural Central Valley extends from Santiago southwards to the Bío-Bío Region.

Sometimes Puerto Montt is considered the southern end of the Central Valley because south of there the valley is below sea level and emerges sporadically as islands down to the Ofqui Isthmus.

External links

• An aerial Google view of the Chilean Central Valley. Argentina lies to the east of the Andes range
• Chilean National Tourism Service (Spanish)
• Chilean Meteorological Service (Spanish)