Arauco Bay

The Gulf of Arauco opens onto the Pacific south of the mouth of the Biobío River. Its shores lie in the country of the Mapuche, whose coastal communities drew on the sea as well as the forests and fields inland. During the Spanish conquest the Arauco region became a contested frontier, with forts and settlements facing sustained Mapuche resistance. The broad gulf and its headlands formed part of the maritime approaches to this long-disputed coast.