The first to arrive brought with them tools, articles of china, wool and cotton, with instructions to return with copper and hemp.
[citation needed] In Valparaíso they constructed their largest and most important colony, bringing with them neighborhoods of English character, schools, social, sports clubs, business organizations and periodicals.
This influence is apparent in unique areas of Chilean society today, such as the bank and the national marina, as well as in certain social activities popular in the country, such as football, horse racing, and drinking tea.
[citation needed] The English eventually numbered more than 32,000 during the port of Valparaíso's boom period during the saltpeter bonanza at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.
[1] The English colony was also important in the northern zone of the country during the saltpeter boom, in the ports of Iquique and Pisagua.