Austrian-Chilean relations are foreign relations between Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. The first bilateral relations dates back from 1846. Austria has an embassy in Santiago de Chile and 3 honorary consulates (in Arica

Arica, Chile

Arica is a commune and a port city with a population of 185,269 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica and Parinacota Region, located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capital of both the Arica Province and the Arica and Parinacota Region...

, Valdivia

Valdivia, Chile

Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla...

 and Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

). Chile has an embassy in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and 3 honorary consulates (in Linz

Linz

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

, Klagenfurt

Klagenfurt

-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...

 and Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

).

History

In 1991, Minister of Foreign Affairs Enrique Silva Cimma was the first Chilean Chancellor to pay an official visit to Austria.

In 1993, Chancellor Franz Vranitzky

Franz Vranitzky

Franz Vranitzky is an Austrian politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria , he was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997.-Early life and career:...

 was the first Chancellor of Austria

Chancellor of Austria

The Federal Chancellor is the head of government in Austria. Its deputy is the Vice-Chancellor. Before 1918, the equivalent office was the Minister-President of Austria. The Federal Chancellor is considered to be the most powerful political position in Austrian politics.-Appointment:The...

 to pay an official visit to Chile.

Since 1999, the bilateral relations were intensified in the context of the bi-regional LAC-EU

Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit

The Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit is a biennial meeting of heads of state and government of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union...

 process.

State visits

In 2008, Chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer

Alfred Gusenbauer

Alfred Gusenbauer is an Austrian career politician who until 2008 spent his entire professional life as an employee of the Social Democratic Party of Austria or as a parliamentary representative. He headed the SPÖ from 2000 to 2008, and served as Chancellor of Austria from January 2007 to...

 paid an official visit to Chile.

Austrian immigration to Chile

In the 19th century, famines in Europe and the expulsion of Protestants

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

 from Austria led to waves of Austrian immigration to Latin America. A notable settlement of Tyrolean

County of Tyrol

The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

 Protestants in Chile is Los Bajos, Frutillar

Frutillar

Frutillar is a city and commune located in southern Chile in the Los Lagos Region. The bay of Frutillar is placed on the banks of Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake entirely within Chile.-History:...

, in the Llanquihue Province

Llanquihue Province

Llanquihue Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Los Lagos . Its capital is Puerto Montt. Chile's second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue, is located in the province as well as four volcanoes: Osorno, Calbuco, Puntiagudo and Cerro Tronador....

.

The town of Nueva Braunau near Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas is a city and commune located in the southern Chilean province of Llanquihue, in the Los Lagos Region.The city is well known for its German traditions, its food, its fish and seafood, the natural environment, its casino and 5 star hotels. Only from Puerto Montt, located on the shore...

 was named in 1875 by Austro-Hungarian settlers after today's Broumov

Broumov

Broumov is a town in the Czech Republic, in the Náchod District of the Hradec Králové Region near the Polish border. The municipality at the small Stěnava River is the center of the Broumovsko area, along with the adjacent Adršpach-Teplice Rocks, a protected area popular with mountain...

 .

Chilean coup d'état

As a consequence of the Chilean coup d'état, in 1973 about 1,500 Chilean refugees came to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. In May 2006, the President of Chile

President of Chile

The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...

 Michelle Bachelet

Michelle Bachelet

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She was the first woman president of her country...

 met with hundreds of members of the Chilean Viennese community at the Rathaus, Vienna.

External links

• Austrian Foreign Ministry: list of bilateral treaties with Chile (in German only)
• Austrian embassy in Santiago de Chile (in German and Spanish only)