In recent years the city has become one of the most attractive cultural and tourist centers in the O'Higgins Region, largely because of the vineyards that have been developed in the area.

Other visitors are attracted to the archeological sites, such as Pukara de La Compañia and the nearby Rio Cipreses nature reserve.

The region is known for El Teniente in the nearby Andes mountain range: it is the "largest underground copper mine in the world.

The city's Braden Copper Stadium, named for the American company that developed the mine through the first half of the 20th century, was one of the four venues of the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

There are also residents of German, Croatian, Italian, Greek, Levantine Arab, Swiss, French, English or Irish ancestry living in the city.

In addition, there has been increasing immigration to the city from neighbouring South American countries such as Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.

[1] According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Rancagua spans an area of 260.3 km2 (101 sq mi) and has 214,344 inhabitants (104,879 men and 109,465 women).

[1] As a commune, Rancagua is a third-level administrative division of Chile, administered by a municipal council and headed by an alcalde, who is directly elected by the people for a four-year term.

Rancagua and the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region was settled by Spaniards (notably Andalusian, Basque, Aragonese and Navarrese) and other Europeans.

However, these and subsequent attempts to establish anything more than a small scale mine failed for lack of capital and the property was eventually bought by the American, William Braden, for approximately US$100,000.

[5] Work started on establishing a mine in 1905 after Government permission had been acquired but progress was slow because of difficulty of access and a hard winter climate.

The city's most famous football club is O'Higgins, who currently plays in the first category of Chilean soccer, the Primera División de Chile.

O'Higgins had great past glories, with the help of El Teniente they became one of the leading teams of Chile during the 1970s, participating on several occasions in the Copa Libertadores, their best performance being a semifinal appearance.