Osornoball

Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census. It is located 945 kilometres (587 mi) south of the national capital of Santiago, 105 kilometres (65 mi) north of the regional capital of Puerto Montt and 260 kilometres (160 mi) west of the Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche, connected via International Route 215 through the Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass.

Located at the confluence of Rahue and Damas River Osorno is the main service centre of agriculture and cattle farming in the northern Los Lagos Region. The city's cultural heritage is shaped by Spanish, Huilliche and German influences

Old Osorno
The city was originally planned to be founded in 1553, under the Government of Pedro de Valdivia by his companion of conquest, Lieutenant General Don Francisco de Villagra; with the name of Santa Marina de Gaete, on the site of a Huilliche village named Chauracavi. However, the death of Valdivia prevented the realization of this plan when he was about to materialize.

On March 27, 1558, the city is finally founded by the governor, García Hurtado de Mendoza; with the new name of Villa de San Mateo de Osorno, in honor of his grandfather, Count ofOsorno. It was destroyed again by the indigenous Huilliche people in October 1602.

New Osorno
On November 22, 1792, Tomás de Figueroa took possession of the ruins. Under the orders of Ambrosio O'Higgins, Osorno was again rebuilt by Juan Mackenna, and declared officially re-populated in 1796. O'Higgins, in turn, was awarded the title of Marquess of Osorno.

Osorno owes its legacy to fairly recent Chilean settlement, when the government subdued the region's indigenous Mapuchepeoples in the mid-19th century and opened the land to Chilean and European immigration soon to follow. Large percentage of locals in Osorno are descendants of Spanish (the livestock grazing industry owes its foundation to the Basques) and other European immigrants.

Around 1850, the government of Chile began inviting German settlers to the colony to promote growth in the region; the settlers found Osorno's climate and geography to be very similar to their own. With their help, Osorno was made the home of the National Cattle ranch of Chile, boosting the regional economy significantly. Present-day Osorno has preserved 19th century architecture and urban layout, represented by six picturesque houses which have been designated national monuments.

Osorno has a long history of rivalry with Valdivia, and in a 2006 referendum, the Osorno Province rejected its proposed incorporation into the new Los Ríos Region, of which Valdivia is now the capital.

Osorno has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) with a drying trend in summer.[4] Winters are cool but mild with a July average of 7.6 °C (45.7 °F). Most of the precipitation falls during this time of the year with May to July being the wettest months, averaging around 180 millimetres (7 in) to 210 millimetres (8 in) of precipitation and humidity is high, averaging around 85%.[5] Snowfalls are rare.[5] Summers are drier and mild with a January average of 17.8 °C (64.0 °F) and during this time, precipitation is lower, averaging 48.9 millimetres (2 in) in January. In some years, many days can go without a day of precipitation such as the case in 1992 when only 1.1 millimetres (0 in) of precipitation was recorded in January while in other years, some summers can have several wet days in a row.[5] Temperatures can occasionally exceed 25 °C (77 °F) anytime from December to March.[6] The average annual precipitation is 1,318 millimetres (52 in) and there are 173 days with measureable precipitation. The record high was 36.1 °C (97.0 °F) in January 1975 and the record low was −7.6 °C (18.3 °F) in May 1988.