Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt is a port city in southern Chile, located by the Reloncaví Estuary,in the Región de los Lagos, at 41°28′S 72°56′W. The city has approximately 200,000 inhabitants and was founded on February 12, 1853 after a government-sponsored immigration from Germany, that began in 1848, populated the region and integrated it politically to the rest of the country. The city was named after Manuel Montt, Chilean president among 1841 and 1851, who set in motion the German immigration.

The city's economy is now based upon agriculture, forestry, fishing, and salmon aquaculture in the surrounding islands and fjords. It is the fastest growing city in southern Chile, mainly because of the explosive growth of salmon culture. Puerto Montt is also the gateway to the island of Chiloé and the many other smaller islands in Chile's inland sea.

Puerto Montt has one airport, El Tepual, where three airlines have regular flights from Santiago, Punta Arenas, Balmaceda and Bariloche. The airlines that operate in this airport are Lan Chile (the biggest one in the country), Sky airlines and Aerolineas del Sur. The flight to Santiago lasts two hours.

Puerto Montt is the most southern train station. In 1991 the service was suspended, but in december 2005 the train return.