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General Info

 
Official Name: Republic of Chile
Area: 292,257 sq. mi., 756,946 sq. km. It is over 2600 in length. Its surface is slightly larger than that of the state of Texas.
Population: 13,740,000 (1993 est.)
Borders and Neighbors: Its western border is the Pacific Ocean; the Andes mountains form its eastern frontier with neighboring Argentina; Bolivia and Perú are its neighbors to the North. Cape Horn and the South Pole form its southern extremety.
Main Cities: Santiago (capital) 5,484,000 (1992 est.); Concepción 310,000; Viña del Mar 294,000; Valparaíso 284,000; Talcahuno 245,000.
Type of Goverment: Democratic Republic
Head of State: President, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Languages: The official language of Chile is Spanish (called Castellano in Chile).  It is spoken largely without regional variations, except for remote rural areas. Other languages spoken in few areas of the country parallel to Spanish are Mapudungu (spoken by the Mapuches in limited areas in Southern Chile), Rapa Nui (spoken on Easter Island) and Aymara (in the mountains of the North).
Religions: Most Chileans are Roman Catholics. Protestantism is the second most important religion, with small Jewish, Greek Orthodox and Muslim communities. Roman Catholic 89% Protestant 11%
Currency: Peso

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Geography

Chile stretches across two continents and extends into Oceania. Mainland Chile consists of a long, narrow fringe along the southwestern edge of the South American continent descending from the high peaks of the Andes to the Pacific coast. Continental Chile has an area of 756.626 square kilometers. It is 4.200 kilometers long and averages 177 kilometers wide, although it is only 90 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. Superimposed on a map of the United States, Chile would stretch from Northern Maine to southern California. On a map of Europe, Chile would stretch from Moscow to Lisbon. In the South, mainland Chile breaks down into dozens of islands, forming a chain of archipelagos extending down to Cape Horn. Also part of Chile are Isla de Pascua (Easter Island), in Polynesia, the Juan Fernández archipelago (which includes Robinson Crusoe Island), other off-shore islands and the Chilean Antarctic Territory (1.250.000 kilometers), which reaches to the South Pole. Chile borders on Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

The Chilean landscape is dominated by the mountains and the sea, with numerous fertile valleys where the major part of Chilean agriculture has developed. Rivers rise in the Andean mountain chain and course rapidly to the Pacific. Major rivers include the Loa, in the North, the Maule and Biobío in Central Southern Chile and the Baker in the Far South.
 

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People

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Brief History

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived during the first half of the Sixteenth Century, the area which today is called Chile was populated by various indigenous communities (Cf. Indigenous Peoples). The Seventeenth Century was an extremely difficult period during which the control of the Spanish Crown was asserted over one of its most distant dominions. The Eighteenth Century was characterized by the growth of a more complex and relatively more refined social, cultural and institutional life. A new class (criollos) developed from the descendants of Spaniards born in Chile and became the principal driving force of the movement toward independence from Spain, initiated in 1810 and consolidated in 1818.

After a brief period of confusion, Chile settled on a republican and presidential form of government. A strong executive guided the country through four decades of civic, economic and cultural growth. The aristocracy and political parties made gradual inroads on presidential authority, particularly after the War of the Pacific, against Peru and Bolivia (1879-1883). That tendency, expressed first in a "Liberal Republic" and later in a quasi-parliamentarism, continued until the mid-1920's, when the president again became the most important political figure during an era in which social demands had become more urgent. The emergence of the middle class and the growth of popular participation in civic life led to significant reforms beginning with the government of Aguirre Cerda (in the late 30s) and extending to the Frei and Allende administrations (in the 60s and early 70s). A military coup in 1973 terminated an elected socialist government. Democracy was reestablished when the Chilean people elected a new President (Patricio Aylwin, Christian Democrat) and a new Congress in 1989.

On December 1993, Eduardo Frei Ruíz-Tagle (Christian Democrat), was elected President for the term 1994-2000.
 

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Education

Education in Chile involves the State and the private sector. Elementary education is compulsory and free in public schools. High school is also free in public schools. There are numerous institutions which provide vocational and technical education. The university system is vast and diverse. Chile has a very high literacy rate and ranks among the most developed Latin America countries in terms of numbers of professionals and status of scientific research and technology.
 

Chilean universities on the Internet

*The Geography, History and Education sections are reprints from "Chile a Quick Review Website."

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Miscellaneous

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This page has been accessed  times since March 29, 1998.
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