Carahue (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈɾawe]) is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River.

The city was founded as La Imperial April 16, 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia. La Imperial or Antigua [Old] Imperial, was abandoned and destroyed as a result of the Mapuche Uprising of 1598 during the War of Arauco in 1600, and refounded in 1882, in course of Occupation of the Araucania, under the name Carahue.