Why is the majority of the Chilean population of European descent?

Like every country in the American continent, Chile was 'discovered' and 'conquered' by Europeans, in our case the Spanish. Unlike other countries in the continent, giving geographical and Natural Resources factors, the original inhabitants of Chile weren't numerous at the time of the Spanish arrival. Later in time, from the mid 1800s an important influx of Germans arrive in the south of Chile, and to a much lesser degree British (mainly due to commercial activities in mining and shipping), Italians, Croats and other Europeans.