CAUTIN  , a

province of southern Chile, bounded N. by Arauco, Malleco and Bio-Bio, E. by Argentina, S. by Valdivia, and W. by the Pacific . Its area is officially estimated at 5832 sq. m . Cautin lies within the temperate agricultural and forest region of the south, and produces wheat, cattle, lumber, tan-bark and fruit . The state central railway from Santiago to Puerto Montt crosses the province from north to south, and the Cautin, or Imperial, and Tolten rivers (the latter forming its southern boundary) cross from east to west, both affording excellent transportation facilities . The province once formed part of the territory occupied by the Araucanian Indians, and its present political existence dates from 1887 . Its population (1905) was 96,139, of whom a large percentage were European immigrants, principally Germans . The capital is Temuco, on the Rio Cautin; pop . (1895) 7078 . The principal towns besides Temuco are Lautaro (3139) and Nueva Imperial (2179), both of historic interest because they were fortified Spanish outposts in the long struggle with the Araucanians .