Expediciones a las costas de la patagonia occidental en el período colonial

This article, which has a territory as its subject of study, aims to contribute to the discussion on how territories acquired a new meaning for the West during the colonial period. It is a contribution to the understanding of the transition process of the south pacific Patagonian coast, from an intermediate area between Chiloe and the Magellan Strait, to a territory belonging to Chiloe, in which the province was expanded through maritime expeditions, but did not incorporate or maintain it, to finally a territory with its own historical singularity. In order to shed light about the process of expansion to these territories and the meaning that their contemporaries gave them, this paper will present a proposal of stages or periods of the colonial explorations on the Patagonian coast, as well as the motivations that were behind them.