For my new friends for all over the world. Here you will find some information about my beloved country. I hope you would share yours as well.

A Snapshot of Chile

Chile is located in southwest South America, stretching far south to Antarctica. Its westernmost point is Easter Island, located in the Pacific Ocean, 3,760 km. from the Chilean coast. Chile stretches from parallel 17.30° S to parallel 56.32°, at the southernmost tip of South America, Cape Horn. Chile’s claim over the Antarctic continent encompasses the triangle between parallel 60 S and meridians 53 and 90 W, to the South Pole.

Chile measures 4.329 kilometers in length. Placed over a map of Europe, it would extend from Madrid to Moscow. 

 

Chile limits in the north with Peru, divided by a border line known as the “Linea de la Concordia” (160 km.). On the east, a line running through the highest summits of the Andes, separates Chile from Argentina and Bolivia. Chile’s southern boundary is the South Pole, and on the west the Pacific Ocean.

Its average width is 150 kilometers; it is 360 kilometers across at is widest point and just 15 kilometers at its narrowest.

 

The official language is Spanish.

Chile experiences many different climates, as its territory stretches from the desert in the north to Antarctica in the south. Nonetheless, in general, the climate in the north is dry, in the central and center south regions mild and temperate, with rains in the winter, and cool and rainy in the far south. Average temperatures in Santiago are a minimum of 13°C and maximum of 32°C in summer, and a minimum of 2°C and a maximum of 15°C in the winter.

Summer is from december to March, with an average temperature of 25°C. Winter last from June to August, with an average temperature of 12°C.

 

The time zone in winter is GMT –4 hours; in summer it is GMT –3 hours.

Visitors from most countries require only a current passport and a tourist entrance card, which is valid for 90 days. No inoculations are necessary.

 

Chile by regions

Chile’s geographic characteristics and its great length not only affect its landscape, climate, and natural resources; they are also reflected in its people, their traditions, customs, and folklore. Moreover, they affect productive activity, the ambitions and investment opportunities of Chileans, and the places where they choose to live. For example, most of the population is concentrated in central Chile.

In 1974, natural resources, population, and space were taken into account when dividing Chile into 13 administrative regions.  In 2007, this division was modified in order to face new challenges. Two new regions were created:  Los Rios and Arica and Parinacota.

Based on similar criteria, these regions are divided into provinces (totaling 53), and the provinces into municipalities (346). Each region has a capital city, where major political, social, economic, and development decisions are made.

Division into regions does not make Chile a federal nation. The regions are subject to central authority, and all are governed by the same laws.

Chile’s regions are governed by intendentes; provinces by governors; and municipalities by mayors.
Intendentes and governors are appointed by the President. Mayors are elected by popular vote.
The government, however, is encouraging decentralization in a bid to transfer resources and decision-making power to citizen representatives and institutions in regions and municipalities.

 

Territory                                                                                                   

 

Chile is situated in the extreme southwest of South America, with Peru to the north, the South Pole to the south, Bolivia and Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Chile has an unusual shape; it is a very long and narrow country. From north to south, it stretches from desert to glaciers, by way of cliffs, valleys, lakes, forests, islands, and canals. From east to west, it is squeezed between the Andes mountain range, with altitudes above 6.000 meters, and the Pacific Ocean, whose cold and restless waters reach a depth of 8.000 meters in some places.

 

Chile’s north is one of the most arid regions in the world. In some parts of the Atacama Desert it never rains, but at night a heavy coastal fog known as camanchaca is formed, which obscures vision at 50 paces and dissipates in the morning with the heat of the sun.

 

The central zone is fertile and bountiful, watered with rivers originating in the snowcapped summits of the Andes. This is the heart of the chilean countryside, its products, traditions and folklore. The capital, Santiago, is also in the central zone, along with the principal cities, the major industries and the most important financial institutions.

  

Easter Island (Rapa Nui in the Rapa Nui language, Isla de Pascua in Spanish), is a Polynesian island in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, at the south-eastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. The island is an overseas territory of Chile. Easter Island is famous for its monumental statues, called moai (pronounced MOE-eye), created by the Rapanui people. It is a world heritage site with much of the island protected within the Rapa Nui National Park.

On Chiloé Island, a land of legends and traditions passed on by its inhabitants from generation to generation, more than 100 small wooden chapels remain as notable vestiges of the work of Jesuits and Franciscans. On November 30, 2000, Unesco declared 14 of the chapels to be part of the World’s Heritage. 

 In the south, where rain is abundant, the land is dotted with lakes and volcanoes towering above old-growth forests. It is not only a paradise for fishermen and nature enthusiasts, but also the source of the country’s rich timber and water resources.

 

In its extreme southern reaches, Chile breaks apart into hundreds of windswept islands, separated by canals, straits and seas, and covered with exuberant vegetation. Chilean Patagonia consists of 132.000 square kilometers of islands, canals, fjords, icebergs and glaciers. Ships offer cruises through the zone of eternal ice, with its glaciers, such as the 30.000-year-old San Rafael Glacier, cascading spectacularly into the sea.  

In the Strait of Magellan, winds blow at more than 100 kilometers per hour, and the waters are fickle and treacherous. The Evangelistas Lighthouse serves as the last, lonely guide for

navigators. Once there were large cattle ranches and gold mines in Tierra del Fuego. Today, it is the country’s center for petroleum operations and large-scale forestry projects.

 

 

Chile ends at Antarctica, where it maintains five bases and a civilian settlement, Villa Las Estrellas, founded in 1984 and where 90 people live. The country subscribes to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.

 

  

Political System

The Chilean State is split into three distinct and independent branches:

·   The Executive, headed by the highest authority in the land, the President of the Republic;

·   The Judiciary, with its highest tribunal, the Supreme Court;

·   And the Legislature, which has a Chamber of Deputies (or House of Representatives) and a Senate.

 
Government

· Official Name: Republic of Chile

· Type of Government: Representative Democracy, Presidential Regime

· Capital: Santiago

· Independence: September 18, 1810

· National Holiday: September 18, Independence Day

Free Trade Agreements

Japan
China
United States
Canada
Mexico
South Korea
Central America
European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

  

You can also find detailed information in our Government’s WebSite http://www.chileangovernment.gov.cl

Our National Dance

 

Our National Symbols

Chilean Flag The Coat of Arms

 

The Chilean Educational System