Russian-speaking emigrants began arriving in Chile in 1854. Among them were sailors, traders, and doctors, including Alexei Shcherbakov, who served as a surgeon in the Chilean navy during the Second Pacific War of 1879-1883.

By the end of the 19th century, about 250 families from Russia moved to Chile, mostly settling in Araucania, while around 100 families chose to live on Chiloé Island. Many of the emigrants were Jews and Ukrainians.

Between the world wars, a small group of emigrants from the White movement arrived in Chile. In the 1950s, emigrants from Harbin came here.

In 1954, the Russian community established a cemetery. According to the Russian Embassy, about 1,300 people of Russian descent live in Chile.

Russian emigrants work in various fields. Anastasia Knyazeva, for example, says: "I work in my profession, unlike many Russians in Chile. My profession is ballet dancer and choreographer. I had to retrain: I was engaged in Russian folk dances, and here I switched to Latin American ones. I participated in television projects, shoot commercials, work as a model, and teach dance."

Alexander Sysoev, who moved from Krasnoyarsk, shared: "I got a job at a great Chilean company developing games for Android and iPhone. The team consists of experienced developers, which allows for communication on a professional level. In Russia, I was a programmer, but I didn't work on games. Now I am involved and believe that the main thing is the basic knowledge that is tested in the interview. Working in such a team is easy and enjoyable; the atmosphere is relaxed. You can even get a foam bullet to the head, that's local humor."

Evgeny Belov, who works as a doctor, notes: "The minimum wage in Chile is about 272,000 Chilean pesos, which is approximately 27,000 rubles. Latin Americans believe that a person can work five days in a row during the day one week and five nights in a row the next. This is normal. Or a workday from 5 PM to 2 AM is also quite common."