Concepcion

Concepcion is a city in Chile, capital of Concepcion Province and of the Biobio Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepcion is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants (2002 census). Concepcion was founded by Pedro de Valdivia in 1550 north of the Bio-Bio River, at the site which is today known as Penco. At that time it was given the name Concepcion del Nuevo Extremo. 

The new settlement of Concepcion was just a few kilometers north of La Frontera , the boundary between Spanish territory and the land of the Mapuche, an American Indian ethnic group that remained independent until the 1870s. The settlement was formally recognized by the Spanish authorities as a town two years later by a royal decree.