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. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of
Los Ríos Region and is also the capital of
Valdivia Province. The national census of 2002 census recorded the commune of Valdivia as having 140,559 inhabitants (
Valdivianos), of whom 127,750 were living in the city. The main economic activities of Valdivia include tourism,
wood pulp manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the
Austral University of Chile, founded in 1954, and the
Centro de Estudios Científicos.