O'Higgins

O'Higgins exists because copper exists underground and fruit grows above it. Named for Bernardo O'Higgins—Chile's independence leader—the region centered on Rancagua embodies the dual extraction economy that defines central Chile: the El Teniente mine (one of the world's largest underground copper operations) anchors industrial employment while the Rapel Valley and surrounding areas produce wine, fruit, and agricultural exports. This layered economy represents vertical niche partitioning—different resources extracted from different altitudes, from Andean ore bodies to valley floor orchards to coastal fisheries. The 2010 earthquake that devastated Maule also struck O'Higgins, damaging infrastructure and revealing the vulnerability of communities built atop active seismic zones. The region's proximity to Santiago (the capital begins just 50 km north of Rancagua) creates opportunities and pressures: workers commute to metropolitan jobs while agricultural land faces urban encroachment. O'Higgins demonstrates satellite dynamics: close enough to the primate city to benefit from its metabolism but far enough to maintain distinct economic identity. By 2026, the region will continue its dual function—feeding copper into global supply chains while feeding fruit and wine to export markets—unless Santiago's expansion absorbs what remains of the agricultural buffer zone.