Other significant immigrant groups are Italian, Yugoslav, French, and Arab. About 400,000 persons of predominantly aboriginal descent, mostly of the Mapuche tribe, reside in the south-central area, around Temuco. Northern Chile is desert and contains great mineral wealth, primarily copper and nitrates. The relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This is also the historical center from which Chile expanded until the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern extremes.
Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and has a string of volcanoes and lakes.
The southern extreme of this region is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Approved in a 1980 national referendum. Chile's human history apparently began about 10,000 years ago, when migrating Indians followed the line of the Andes and settled in fertile valleys and along the coast. The Incas briefly extended their empire into the north, but the area's remoteness prevented significant impact. Although the Spaniards did not find the gold and silver they sought there, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.