Just as in the United States and North America, South America was full people when Europeans first arrived. Across South America there were grand civilizations, cities and different groups of Native Americans living their lives for thousands of years. The culture and identity of these people are still very important to people in South America. South Americans have inherited very much from these earlier people in terms of language, culture and the land where they live. In Chile, the largest group of indigenous people is the Mapuche. The Mapuche managed to maintain a large population and much of their culture, as if they were never conquered by the Inca Empire (a large native american empire based in Peru) or the Spanish.
