Valdivia is a city and commune located in southern Chile. It serves as the capital of both the Valdivia Province and the Los Ríos Region, a designation it has held since October 2007. The city is situated at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately 15 km east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla.
Named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, the city serves as a regional hub for several industries, including wood pulp manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, beer production, and tourism. It is also an important academic and scientific center, housing the Austral University of Chile, which was founded in 1954, the Centro de Estudios Científicos, and one of the three environmental courts in Chile.
According to the 2025 national census, the commune of Valdivia has a population of 110,980 inhabitants, known as Valdivianos. The city itself contains a larger portion of this population, with 150,048 residents recorded in the urban area.