Everything about Republic Of Chile totally explained
Chile, officially the
Republic of Chile (
Spanish: ), is a country in
South America occupying a long and narrow
coastal strip wedged between the
Andes mountains and the
Pacific Ocean. It borders
Peru to the north,
Bolivia to the northeast,
Argentina to the east, and the
Drake Passage at the country's southernmost tip. It is one of only two countries in South America that doesn't have a border with
Brazil. The Pacific forms the country's entire western border, with a coastline that stretches over 6,435 kilometres. Chilean territory extends to the Pacific Ocean which includes the overseas territories of
Juan Fernández Islands, the
Sala y Gómez islands, the
Desventuradas Islands and
Easter Island located in
Polynesia. Chile claims of
territory in Antarctica.
Chile's unusual, ribbon-like shape —4,300 km long and on average 175 km wide— has given it a hugely varied
climate, ranging from the world's driest desert - the
Atacama - in the north, through a
Mediterranean climate in the centre, to a snow-prone Alpine climate in the south, with
glaciers,
fjords and
lakes.
Prior to the coming of the
Spanish in the
16th century, northern Chile was under
Inca rule while
Araucanian Indians (also known as
Mapuches) inhabited central and southern Chile. Although Chile declared its independence in 1810, decisive victory over the Spanish wasn't achieved until 1818. In the
War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its present northern regions. It wasn't until the 1880s that the Araucanian Indians were completely subjugated. The country, which had been relatively free of the coups and arbitrary governments that blighted the South American continent, endured a 17 year military dictatorship (1973-1990), one of the bloodiest in 20th-century
Latin America that left more than 3,000 people dead and missing.
Currently, Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. It also ranks high regionally in
freedom of the press,
human development and democratic development. (See the
International rankings section below for more details and references.) Its status as the region's richest country in terms of
gross domestic product per capita (at
market prices and
purchasing power parity) is countered by its high level of
income inequality, as measured by the
Gini index.
Etymology
There are various theories about the origin of the word
Chile. According to one theory the
Incas of Peru, who had failed to conquer the
Araucanians, called the valley of the
Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a
tribal chief ("cacique") called
Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest. Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the
Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named
Chili. "the deepest point of the Earth," or "sea gulls;" or from the
Quechua chin, "cold," or the
Aymara tchili, meaning "snow." Another meaning attributed to
chilli is the onomatopoeic
cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of a bird call.
military coup overthrew Allende on
September 11 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the
presidential palace (Palacio de La Moneda), Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General
Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime were marked by serious
human rights violations. On October 1973, at least 72 people were murdered by the
Caravan of Death. At least a thousand people were executed during the first six months of Pinochet in office, and at least two thousand more were killed during the next sixteen years, as reported by the
Rettig Report. Some 30,000 were forced to flee the country, and tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured, as investigated by the 2004
Valech Commission. A new
Constitution was approved by a highly irregular and undemocratic
plebiscite characterized by the absence of registration lists, on
September 11 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term.
In the late 1980s, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly,
speech, and association, to include trade union and limited political activity. The right-wing military government pursued
free market economic policies. During Pinochet's nearly 17 years in power, Chile moved away from state involvement, toward a largely
free market economy that saw an increase in domestic and foreign private investment, although the copper industry and other important mineral resources were not returned to foreign ownership. In a plebiscite on
October 5,
1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president (56% against 44%). Chileans elected a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress on
December 14,
1989. Christian Democrat
Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the
Concertación, received an absolute majority of votes (55%).. President Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994, in what was considered a transition period.
In December 1993, Christian Democrat
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the son of previous president
Eduardo Frei Montalva, led the Concertación coalition to victory with an absolute majority of votes (58%). Frei Ruiz-Tagle was succeeded in 2000 by Socialist
Ricardo Lagos, who won the presidency in an unprecedented
runoff election against
Joaquín Lavín of the rightist
Alliance for Chile. In January 2006 Chileans elected their first woman president,
Michelle Bachelet Jeria, of the Socialist Party. She was sworn in on
March 11 2006, extending the
Concertación coalition governance for another four years.
Politics
Constitution was approved in a highly irregular national
plebiscite in September 1980, under the
military government of
Augusto Pinochet. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In September 2005, President
Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and
senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.
Chileans voted in the first round of presidential elections on
December 11 2005. None of the four presidential candidates won more than 50% of the vote. As a result, the top two vote-getters—center-left Concertación coalition’s
Michelle Bachelet and center-right Alianza coalition’s
Sebastián Piñera—competed in a run-off election on
January 15 2006, which Michelle Bachelet won. She was sworn in on
March 11 2006. This was Chile’s fourth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All four have been judged free and fair. The President is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms.
Chile's bicameral
Congress has a 38-seat
Senate and a 120-member
Chamber of Deputies. Senators serve for 8 years with staggered terms, while Deputies are elected every 4 years. The current Senate has a 20-18 split in favor of pro-government Senators. The last congressional elections were held in
December 11 2005, concurrently with the presidential election. The current lower house—the Chamber of Deputies—contains 63 members of the governing center-left coalition and 57 from the center-right opposition. The Congress is located in the port city of
Valparaíso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital,
Santiago.
Chile's congressional elections are governed by a binomial system that rewards large representations. Therefore, there are only two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district, parties are forced to form wide coalitions and, historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertación and Alianza) split most of the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats. In the 2001 congressional elections, the conservative
Independent Democratic Union surpassed the
Christian Democrats for the first time to become the largest party in the lower house. In 2005, both leading parties, the Christian Democrats and the
UDI lost representation in favor of their respective allies
Socialist Party (which became the biggest party in the Concertación block) and
National Renewal in the right-wing alliance. The
Communist Party again failed to gain any seats in the election. (
See Chilean parliamentary election, 2005.)
Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the
Supreme Court. In June 2005, Chile completed a nation-wide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.
Administrative division
regions, each of which is headed by an
intendant appointed by the President. Every region is further divided into
provinces, with a provincial governor also appointed by the President. Finally each province is divided into
communes which are administered by
municipalities, each with its own mayor and councilmen elected by their inhabitants for four years.
Each region is designated by a name and a
Roman numeral, assigned from north to south. The only exception is the region housing the nation's capital, which is designated
RM, that stands for
Región Metropolitana (Metropolitan Region).
Two new regions were created in 2006:
Arica and Parinacota in the north, and
Los Ríos in the south. Both became operative in October 2007.
Geography
Southern Cone country on the west side of the
Andes Mountains, Chile stretches over 4,630
kilometers (2,880
mi) north to south, but only 430 kilometers (265 mi) at its widest point east to west. This encompasses a remarkable variety of
landscapes.
At, Chile is the world's 38th-largest country. It is comparable in size to
Zambia, and is about twice the size of
Japan.
The northern
Atacama Desert contains great mineral wealth, primarily copper and
nitrates. The relatively small Central Valley, which includes
Santiago, dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the historical center from which Chile expanded in the late nineteenth century, when it integrated the northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests, grazing lands, and features a string of
volcanoes and
lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of
fjords,
inlets,
canals, twisting
peninsulas, and islands. The Andes Mountains are located on the eastern border. Chile is the longest (N-S) country in the world (over ), and also claims of
Antarctica as part of its territory. However, this latter claim is suspended under the terms of the
Antarctic Treaty, of which Chile is signatory.
Chile controls
Easter Island and
Sala y Gómez Island, the easternmost islands of
Polynesia, which it incorporated to its territory in 1888, and
Robinson Crusoe Island, more than from the mainland, in the
Juan Fernández archipelago. Easter Island is nowadays a province of Chile. Also controlled but only temporally inhabited (by some local fishermen) are the small islands of Sala y Gómez, San Ambrosio and San Felix, these islands are notable because they extend Chile's claim to territorial waters out from its coast into the Pacific.
Climate
The climate of Chile comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a large geographic scale, extending across 38 degrees in latitude, making generalisations difficult. According to the
Köppen system,
Chile within its borders hosts at least seven major climatic subtypes, ranging from
desert in the north, to
alpine tundra and
glaciers in the east and south east,
humid subtropical in
Easter Island,
Oceanic in the south and
mediterranean climate in central Chile. There are four seasons in most of the country: summer (December to February), autumn (March to May), winter (June to August), and spring (September to November).
Time zones
Because of the distance between the mainland and
Easter Island, Chile uses 4 different
UTC offsets:
Economy
Asian financial crisis, which began in 1997. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 4.0% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.0%. Real GDP growth reached 5.7% in 2005 before falling back to 4.0% growth in 2006. Higher energy prices as well as lagging consumer demand were drags on the economy in 2006. Higher Chilean Government spending and favorable external conditions (including record copper prices for much of 2006) were not enough to offset these drags. For the first time in many years, Chilean economic growth in 2006 was among the weakest in Latin America. GDP expanded 5.1% in 2007.
High domestic savings and investment rates helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s.
The privatized national pension system (AFP) has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP. However, the AFP isn't without its critics, who cite low participation rates (only 55% of the working population is covered), with groups such as the self-employed outside the system. There has also been criticism of the inefficiency and high costs due to a lack of competition among pension funds. Critics cite loopholes in the use of pension savings through lump sum withdraws for the purchase of a second home or payment of university fees as fundamental weaknesses of the AFP. The Bachelet administration plans substantial reform, but not an overhaul, of the AFP during the next several years. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national
living standards. The percentage of Chileans with household incomes below the
poverty line—defined as twice the cost of satisfying a person's minimal nutritional needs—fell from 45.1% in 1987 to 13.7% in 2006, according to government polls. Critics in Chile, however, argue true poverty figures are considerably higher than those officially published, due to the government's use of an outdated 1987 household budget poll, updated every 10 years. According to these critics, using the 1997 household budget data, the poverty rate rises to 29%. Using the relative yardstick favoured in many European countries, 27% of Chileans would be poor, according to Juan Carlos Feres of the
ECLAC. Despite enjoying a comparatively higher GDP and more robust economy compared to most other countries of
Latin America, Chile also suffers from one of the most uneven
distributions of wealth in the world, ahead only of
Brazil in the Latin American region and lagging behind even of most developing
sub-Saharan African nations. Chile's top 10 richest percentile possesses 47 percent of the country's wealth. In relation to income distribution, some 6.2% of the country populates the upper economic income bracket, 15% the middle bracket, 21% the lower middle, 38% the lower bracket, and 20% the extreme poor.
Chile's independent
Central Bank pursues an
inflation target of between 2% and 4%. Inflation hasn't exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered an inflation rate of 3.2% in 2006. The Chilean peso’s rapid appreciation against the U.S. dollar in recent years has helped dampen inflation. Most wage settlements and loans are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds.]]
The growth of exports in 2006 was due mainly to a strong increase in sales to the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan. These three markets alone accounted for an additional U.S. $5.5 billion worth of Chilean exports. Chilean exports to the United States totaled U.S. $9.3 billion, representing a 37.7% increase compared to 2005 (U.S. $6.7 billion). Exports to the European Union were U.S. $15.4 billion, a 63.7% increased compared to 2005 (U.S. $9.4 billion). Exports to Asia increased from U.S. $15.2 billion in 2005 to U.S. $19.7 billion in 2006, a 29.9% increase. With the military coup of 1973, Chile became isolated politically as a result of widespread human rights abuses. About 85% of the country's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in
Greater Santiago. The biggest cities according to the estimated population for
2008 are the
Greater Santiago with 6.3 million people, the
Greater Concepción with 972,741, and the
Greater Valparaíso with 892,143 inhabitants.
Racial structure
The bulk of the Chilean population features a considerably homogeneous mestizo quality, the product of
miscegenation between colonial
Spanish immigrants and
Amerindian females (including the
Atacameños,
Diaguitas,
Picunches,
Araucanians or
Mapuches,
Huilliches,
Pehuenches, and
Cuncos). Chile's ethnic structure can be classified as 30% white, 5% Native American and 65% predominantly white mestizos.
Immigration
Relative to its overall population, Chile never experienced any large scale wave of immigrants. The total number of immigrants to Chile, both originating from other Latin American countries and all other (mostly European) countries, never surpassed 4% of its total population.
Croats have also immigrated to Chile and have formed a notable ethnic identity.
Currently,
immigration from neighboring countries to Chile is greatest, and during the last decade immigration to Chile has doubled to 184,464 people in 2002, originating primarily from
Argentina,
Bolivia and
Peru.
Emigration of Chileans has decreased during the last decade: It is estimated that 857,781 Chileans live abroad, 50.1% of those being in Argentina, 13.3% in the
United States, 8.8% in
Brazil, 4.9% in
Sweden, and around 2% in
Australia, with the rest being scattered in smaller numbers across the globe.
Culture
Inca empire, while the central and southern regions were areas of
Mapuche cultural activities. Through the colonial period following the conquest, and during the early Republican period, the country's culture was dominated by the Spanish. Other European influences, primarily English, French, and German began in the 19th century and have continued to this day. German migrants influenced the Bavarian style rural architecture and cuisine in the south of Chile in cities such as
Valdivia and
Puerto Montt.
The national dance is the
cueca. Another form of traditional Chilean song, though not a dance, is the tonada. Arising from music imported by the Spanish colonists, it's distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody. In the mid-1960s native musical forms were revitalized by the
Parra family with the
Nueva Canción Chilena, which was associated with political activists and reformers, and by the
folk singer and
researcher on
folklore and Chilean
ethnography,
Margot Loyola.
Chileans call their country
país de poetas—country of poets.
Gabriela Mistral was the first Chilean to win a
Nobel Prize for Literature (1945). Chile's most famous poet, however, is
Pablo Neruda, who also won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1971) and is world-renowned for his extensive library of works on romance, nature, and politics. His three highly individualistic homes, located in Isla Negra, Santiago and Valparaíso are popular tourist destinations.
Chilean cuisine is a reflection of the country's topographical variety, featuring an assortment of seafood, beef, fruits, and vegetables. Traditional recipes include
cazuela,
empanadas,
humitas, and
curanto.
Tourism
Tourism in Chile has experienced sustained growth over the last few decades. In 2005, tourism grew by 13.6%, generating more than 4.5 billion dollars of which 1.5 billion is attributed to foreign tourists. According to the National Service of Tourism (Sernatur), 2 million people a year go to Chile. Most of these visitors come from other countries in the American continent, mainly
Argentina; followed by a growing amount from the
United States,
Europe, and
Brazil with a growing amount of Asians from the
Republic of Korea and
China.
The main attractions for tourists are places of natural beauty situated in the extreme zones of the country:
San Pedro de Atacama, in the north, is very popular with foreign tourists who arrive to admire the Incaic architecture and the altiplano lakes of the
Valley of the Moon. In
Putre, also in the North, there's the
Chungará Lake, as well as the
Parinacota and the
Pomerape volcanoes, with altitudes of 6,348 m and 6,222 m, respectively. Throughout the central
Andes there are many ski resorts of international repute, like
Portillo and
Valle Nevado. In the south, the main tourist sites are the
Chiloé island,
Patagonia, the
San Rafael Lagoon, with its many glaciers, and the
Towers of Paine national park. The central port city of
Valparaíso, with its unique architecture, is also popular. Finally,
Easter Island in the
Pacific Ocean is probably the main Chilean tourist destination.
For locals, tourism is concentrated mostly in the summer (December to March), and mainly in the coastal beach towns.
Arica,
Iquique,
Antofagasta,
La Serena and
Coquimbo are the main summer centres in the north, and
Pucón on the shores of
Lake Villarrica is the main one in the south. Due to its proximity to Santiago, the coast of the
Valparaíso Region, with its many beach resorts, receives the largest amount of tourists.
Viña del Mar, Valparaíso's northern affluent neighbor, is popular due to its beaches,
casino, and its annual
song festival, the most important musical event in Latin America.
In November 2005, the government launched a campaign under the brand "Chile: All Ways Surprising," intended to promote the country internationally for both business and tourism.
Languages
Spanish
English language learning and teaching is popular among students, academics and professionals, with some English words being absorbed and appropriated into everyday Spanish speech, although they might seem unrecognizable due to
Non-native pronunciations of English.
Indigenous languages
Mapudungun,
Quechua,
Rapa Nui,
Huilliche,
Aimará,
Kawésqar and
Yámana. After the Spanish invasion, Spanish took over as the
lingua franca and the indigenous languages have become minority languages, with some now extinct or close to extinction.
National symbols
The national flower is the
copihue (
Lapageria rosea, Chilean bellflower), which grows in the woods of southern Chile.
The
coat of arms depicts the two national animals: the
condor (
Vultur gryphus, a very large bird that lives in the mountains) and the
huemul (
Hippocamelus bisulcus, an endangered white tail deer). It also has the legend
Por la razón o la fuerza (
By right or might or
By reason or by force).
The flag of Chile consists of two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; there's a blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of the white band; the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center representing a guide to progress and honor; blue symbolizes the sky, white is for the snow-covered
Andes, and red stands for the blood spilled to achieve independence.
Religion
see:
2002 Census data
.) The LDS church statistics claim to have 543,628 members within Chile.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Republic Of Chile'.
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