LANDSCAPE
Central Chile shares a similar terrain profile with California. Both have a coastal range of mountains, a broad central valley and a high mountain range to the east. A unique weather condition separating Chile from the other four regions is the rarity of lightening. The great height of the Andes in central Chile effectively shields this area from summer weather fronts moving westward across South America. The dominant vegetation in central Chile is an evergreen shrubland called matorral, similar in appearance to California chaparral. Open acacia savannas termed espinal dominate much of the central valley of Chile. Dry woodlands and matorral once covered much of this area.

HUMAN HISTORY
Human impact on this area was relatively low in the pre-Columbian era when central Chile was the southern limit of the Incan Empire. The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the early 16th century changed this situation and led to rapid agricultural expansion and landscape clearance for grazing by goats and cattle. The lack of forested areas has led to four centuries of widespread cutting of matorral shrubs to produce charcoal for fuel.