THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 756,626 sq km; 292,058 sq miles
Population: 15.1 million (2002). Two
thirds of the population is concentrated
in the central zone.
Capital City: Santiago de Chile (6
million)
People: Many Chileans are descended
from those Spaniards and other
immigrants, mainly Europeans, who
settled in Chile from the sixteenth
century onwards. But a large number
are of mixed European and indigenous
ancestry. Estimates on the size of the
indigenous community vary
considerably but according to the
results of the 2002 census 692,192
people identified themselves as
belonging to an ethnic group (4.6% of
the population). The indigenous
comprise the following groups:
Mapuche (87.3%), Aymara (7.01%),
Atacamenos (3.04%), Quechua, Rapa
Nui, Colla, Alacalufe and Yamana.
Languages: The official language is
Spanish. The indigenous community also
speak Mapuche, Aymara and Quechua.
Religion(s): Roman Catholic 69.96%,
Evangelical 15.14% (officially defined in
Chile as all non-Catholic Christian
churches except the Orthodox, the
Mormons, the Seventh Day Adventists
and JehovahÆs Witnesses), other
Christian churches 2.04%, other
religions (including Jews and Muslims)
4.55%, and atheists/indifferent 8.3%.
Currency: Peso
Major Political Parties: Partido
Dem=crata Cristiano (DC) (Christian
Democrats); Partido Socialista (PS)
(Socialists); Partido por la Democracia
(PPD) (Party for Democracy); PRSD
Radical Social Democratic Party);
Renovaci=n Nacional (RN) (National
Renewal ); Uni=n Dem=crata
Independiente (UDI) (Independent
Democratic Union).
Government: Chile has a republican
system of government consisting of
three separate and independent
branches: the Executive Branch, which
is headed by the President, who in turn
is advised by a Cabinet of (unelected)
Ministers; the Legislative Branch,
which consists of a bicameral National
Congress located in Valparafso and
comprising the Senate and Chamber of
Deputies; and the Judicial Branch,
headed by the Supreme Court. These
institutions are defined in the 1980
Constitution as amended. The President
is directly elected for a six-year term.
GEOGRAPHY
ChileÆs boundaries are geographically
well-defined: to the west is the Pacific
Ocean; to the east the Andes
mountains; to the north is the Atacama
Desert, the driest in the World; and to
the south are the icefields and glaciers
of Chilean Patagonia. There are wide
variations of soil and climate between
these features. Chile shares frontiers
with Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. Its
4,500 km coastline includes an amazing
assortment of archipelagos and
channels south of Puerto Montt.
Although Chile is 4,329 km long at no
point is it wider than 180 km. ChileÆs
sovereign territory includes some
Pacific islands and it has a claim to a
sector of Antarctica.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Key Dates
1536-37 û the beginning of the Spanish
conquest of what is now Chile, when
forces under the conquistador Diego
de Almagro invaded from Peru.
12 February 1541 û Pedro de Valdivia
founded the city of Santiago.
18 September 1810 û the first move
towards independence was made when
an open town meeting in Santiago
decided to accept the resignation of
the Spanish-appointed Governor and
replace him with an oligarchy of locally
elected leaders. 18 September is now
officially celebrated as Chilean National
Day.
1-2 October 1814 û a Royalist
(pro-Spanish) army defeated the local
leaders at the Battle of Rancagua,
which enabled Spain to reassert
control over the colony.
12 February 1817 û Independence
forces defeated a Royalist army at the
Battle of Chacabuco, after which
Bernardo OÆHiggins was proclaimed
the first head of state of an
independent Chile.
5 April 1818 û the Royalist forces were
decisively defeated at the Battle of
Maip· and independence was finally
achieved.
1879-83 û War of the Pacific against
Peru and Bolivia. Chile gained the
coastal region of Bolivia and the
Peruvian provinces of Tarapacß and
Arica. To this day Bolivia continues to
dispute by diplomatic means the loss of
its sovereign access to the Pacific
Ocean.
11 September 1973 û the government
of President Allende was overthrown
by a military junta headed by General
Augusto Pinochet. The military
remained in power until the restoration
of democratically elected government
under President Aylwin on 11 March
1990.
5 October 1988 û a plebiscite was held
in which the electorate voted against
granting General Pinochet a further
8-year term of office as President.
December 1989 û presidential and
legislative elections were held. Patricio
Aylwin was elected President for a
four year term and took office on 11
March 1990.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts
Nominal GDP: 66 billion US dollars
(2001).
Nominal GDP per head: 4,314 US dollars
(2001).
Annual growth: 2.8% (2001).
Inflation: 2.8% ( 2002 average)
Unemployment: 7.8%
(October-December 2002)
Major industries: Copper mining; other
mining (gold, nitrates, molybdenum,
iron and silver); wood and wood
products; fish and fishmeal; fruits and
wine. Exports (2001): US 18.6%, Japan
12.2%, UK 7%, P.R.China 5.8%, Brazil
4.9%
Imports (2001): US 16.8%, Argentina
15.4%, Brazil 8.6%, P.R.China 5.9%,
Germany 4.1%
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Relations with Neighbouring Countries
ChileÆs relations with Argentina and
Peru have grown progressively
stronger in recent years, helped by the
settlement of old disputes over the
delimitation of frontiers. In 1984 Chile
and Argentina signed a Treaty of Peace
and Friendship following the settlement
of the Beagle Channel Dispute, and in
the 1990s the two countries settled
over 20 other delimitation disputes. In
1999 Chile and Peru signed an
agreement on certain frontier
questions that had been outstanding
since their signature of the Treaty of
Lima in 1929. When President Lagos
visited Peru for the inauguration of
President Alejandro Toledo, in July
2001, the two leaders signed a joint
declaration strengthening bilateral
relations. Mr Toledo visited Chile in
August 2002. Chile and Bolivia have not
had full diplomatic relations since 1978
when Bolivia broke them off in
connection with the dispute over its
loss of sovereign access to the sea in
the War of the Pacific (1879-83). But
over the last ten years the two
countries have established closer
contacts and discussed possible
cooperation in areas such as bilateral
trade, economic integration and energy
links. In 2000 Bolivia appointed a Consul
General in Santiago, a move that was
reciprocated by Chile in 2001. There
are hopes that Bolivia will choose to
export some of its extensive natural
gas reserves via a pipeline terminating
at a Chilean port.
ChileÆs Relations with the International
Community
Chile depends heavily on foreign trade.
Trade liberalisation or æOpen
RegionalismÆ, as it has been dubbed in
Chile, has long been a cornerstone of
Chilean foreign policy. Chile has
established an extensive network of
bilateral and multilateral trade
agreements; it is a member of APEC,
an Associate Member of Mercosur (the
common market of Argentina, Brazil,
Uruguay and Paraguay) and has free
trade agreements (FTAs) with Mexico
and Canada. Chile completed
negotiations for an FTA with the United
States on 11 December 2002 and signed
an FTA with the Republic of Korea in
February 2003.
Flags Of The World: Republic of Chile
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