|At least 700,000* (*including the descendants of Irish) 
(About 4% of Chilean population)
|Regions with significant populations|
|Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Concepcion, Viña del Mar, Santiago, and the highest percentage of British descent lives in Punta Arenas|
|Spanish. Minority speaks English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and/or Lowland Scots as first language.|
|Roman Catholicism, Protestantism (Anglicanism, Methodism, Presbyterianism et al.)|
|Related ethnic groups|
|British people, English people, Scottish people, Welsh people|
The British Chileans are people of British ancestry, in full or in part, who reside in Chile. The British have been very important in the formation of the Chilean nation. They include Chileans of English, Scottish and Welsh ancestry. The numbers of Scottish and Welsh are higher in Patagonia, in Aysen and Magallanes regions. The highest percentage of British Chileans is found in Punta Arenas, followed by Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepcion, Viña del Mar and Antofagasta.
Chile, facing the Pacific Ocean, has for many years had an important British presence. Over 50,000  British immigrants settled in Chile from 1840 to 1914. A significant number of them settled in Magallanes in Province, especially the city of Punta Arenas when it flourished as a major global seaport for ships crossing the Strait of Magellan from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Around 32,000 English settled in Valparaíso, influencing the port city to the extent of making it virtually a British colony during the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. However, the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 and the outbreak of the First World War drove many of them away from the city or back to Europe.
In Valparaíso they created their largest and most important colony, bringing with them neighbourhoods of British character, schools, social clubs, sports clubs, business organizations and periodicals. Even today their influence is apparent in specific areas, such as the banks and the navy, as well as in certain social activities, such as football (soccer), horse racing, and the custom of drinking tea.
British investment helped Chile become prosperous and British seamen helped the Chilean navy become a strong force in the South Pacific. Chile won two wars, the first against the Peru-Bolivian Confederation and the second, the War of the Pacific, in 1878-79, against an alliance between Peru and Bolivia. The liberal-socialist "Revolution of 1891" introduced political reforms modeled on British parliamentary practice and lawmaking.
British immigrants were also important in the northern zone of the country during the saltpetre boom, in the ports of Iquique and Pisagua. The King of Saltpetre, John Thomas North, was the principal tycoons of nitrate mining. The British legacy is reflected in the streets of the historic district of the city of Iquique, with the foundation of various institutions, such as the Club Hípico (Racing Club). Nevertheless, the British active presence came to an end with the saltpetre crisis during the 1930s.
Some Scots settled in the country's more temperate regions, where the climate and the forested landscape with glaciers and islands may have reminded them of their homeland (the Highlands and Northern Scotland), while English and Welsh made up the rest. The Irish immigrants, who were frequently confused with the British, arrived as merchants, tradesmen and sailors, settling along with the British in the main trading cities and ports.
An important contingent of British (principally Scottish and Irish) immigrants arrived between 1914 and 1950, settling in the present-day region of Magallanes. British families were established in other areas of the country, such as Santiago, Coquimbo, the Araucanía, and Chiloé.
Cultural and Technological Legacy
The cultural legacy of the British in Chile is notable and has spread beyond the British Chilean community onto society at large. One custom taken from the British is afternoon tea, called onces by Chileans. Another interesting, although peculiar, legacy is the sheer amount of use of British first surname by Chileans.
British technology in mining, railway, maritime infrastructure, and other industrial applications predominated in Chile in the latter half of the 19th century, continuing through the 1930s. Manuel A. Fernández' book, "Technology and British Nitrate Enterprises in Chile, 1880-1914" (Issue 34 of Occasional Papers- Institute of Latin American Studies Glasgow University, ISSN 0305-8646) details some of the British technology contributions to the development of the Chilean mining industry. Similar benefits were seen in the railway and meat-processing industries in Chile. Many of the British engineers and technicians, who came to Chile to support British equipment, remained in the country. Even Chile's modern system of lighthouses was largely the result of British expertise and technology: towards the end of the 19th century, Scottish engineer George Slight designed and constructed 70 lighthouses, most of which are still in operation.
Chile currently has the largest population descendants of British in Latin America. Over 700,000 Chileans may have British (English, Scottish and Welsh) or Irish origin, amounting to about 4% of Chile's population.
- Juan Williams Rebolledo, Chilean Navy Admiral
- Claudio Arrau, pianist (family Darroch)
- Patricio Aylwin Azócar, President
- Carlos Condell, Navy Rear Admiral
- Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, President (family Evans)
- William Beausire, stockbroker and disappeared prisoner during the military dictatorship
- Juan Pablo Bennett, Army General
- Alberto Blest Gana, writer and diplomat
- Claudio Bunster Weitzman, scientist
- Patricio Bunster, actor and choreographer
- Ian Campbell, rugby union player
- Julio Canessa Roberts, Army General and politician
- Andrés Chadwick Piñera, politician
- Marta Colvin, sculptress
- Enrique Cood Ross, politician and diplomat
- Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Navy Vice Admiral
- Alejandra Chellew, businesswoman
- Carlos Condell, Navy Captain and hero of the War of the Pacific
- Francisco José Cox, catholic Bishop
- William Cunningham Blest, doctor
- Pedro Dartnell, Army General
- Agustín Edwards Eastman, businessman and owner of the El Mercurio newspaper
- Agustín Edwards Mac Clure, businessman, politician and diplomat
- José Manuel Edwards, politician and deputy
- Roberto Elphick,
- Alejandro Foxley, academic and politician
- Dominique Gallego Williams, TV reality girl, model, dancer (British mother)
- Laurence Golborne, Minister
- Marmaduke Grove, Air Force officer and politician, founder of the Socialist Party of Chile
- Luis Eduardo Hicks,
- Adolfo Holley, Army General
- Francisco Hudson, Navy officer and hydrographer
- Pablo Huneeus, writer
- Stewart Iglehart, rancher, ice hockey and polo player
- Daniella Campos Lathrop, TV presenter and model
- Gustavo Leigh Guzman, Air Force General and member of the Government Junta of 1973
- Bernardo Leighton, politician
- Arturo Longton,
- Patricio Lynch, Navy Vice Admiral
- Sergio Livingstone Pohlhammer, football player and TV sports commentator
- John MacKenna, Army officer and hero of the War of Independence
- Carmela Mackenna, pianist and composer
- Harold Mayne-Nicholls, journalist, FIFA official and former President of the National Professional Football Association and the Chilean Football Federation
- Mary Rose McGill, socialité
- Rodrigo Montt Swett, lawyer and politician
- Camila Nash,
- Bernardo O'Higgins, Supreme Director and Chile's founding father
- Hermógenes Pérez de Arce Ibieta, Family Plummer
- Álvaro Pinto Lyon,
- Juan Ramsay, father of Chilean football
- Anita Reeves, actress
- Agustín Ross, politician, diplomat and banker
- Carlos Ross, footballer
- Edmundo Searle, cartoonist
- Felipe Seymour, footballer
- Robert Souper Howard, Army officer
- María Elena Swett, actress
- Sussan Taunton Thomas, actress
- William Turpin Thayer Arteaga, politician and educator
- Raimundo Tupper, footballer
- Carolina Urrejola Scantlebury, journalist
- Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, writer and politician
- Carlos Villanueva Roland, footballer
- Robert Winthrop Simpson, Navy officer
- Alexander Bryan Witt, filmmaker
- Andrés Wood, filmmaker
Also to note is that the Australian prime minister Chris Watson was born in Valparaiso of British/New Zealand and German-Chilean parentage. Isabel Allende's first husband, Michael Frias, is of significant British ancestry.
- "Historia de Chile, Británicos y Anglosajones en Chile durante el siglo XIX". Retrieved 2010-01-11.
- Inmigrantes británicos.
- Noticias LA EMIGRACIÓN DE CHILENOS AL EXTERIOR E INMIGRACIÓN A CHILE.
- "Inmigración britanica en Chile". Retrieved 2009-01-25.