General Info

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).

CURRENCY

The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. The symbol used locally for it is $. The ISO 4217 code for the present peso is CLP. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, although no centavo denominated coins remain in circulation.

GEOGRAPHY

A long and narrow coastal 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 756,950 km² (292,260 sq mi), 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 4,200 km (2,610 mi)), and also claims 1,250,000 km² (482,628 sq mi) 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 600 km (373 mi) 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.

HISTORY

When the first Spanish arrived, Quechua tribes inhabited the northern region, and Araucanian tribes inhabited the central region and the northern part of the sothern region. The Incas were in control of the northern area and part of central Chile. Warlike Araucanian tribes, who held the Incas back, dominated much of the rest of the country . The first Spanish settlements were established in the mid-sixteenth century: Santiago in 1541 and Concepcion in 1550. Spanish settlers, mainly from Andalucia, were attracted to central Chile because of the pleasant climate and fertile soil. The settlers had to face repeated assults from the Araucanians. The on-and-off war with the Indian aborigines continued into the second half of the nineteenth century.By the mid-seventeenth century, the population of the Spanish settlements and their surroundings numbered approximately 100,000. This population grew to about 500,000 by mid-eighteenth century and to one million by 1830. Those with European blood were concentrated in central Chile, between Santiago and Concepcion; few settled in the northern and southern regions. This pattern of dispersion began to change only in the second half of the nineteenth century, with the rapid growth of mining activities and the inmigration of non-Iberaian Europeans.Under Spanish colonial rule, northern and central Chile were part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. The south remained under the control of the Araucanians almost until the nineteenth century. Independence was first declared in 1810. At that time, central Chile was to a large extend controlled by a small, upper class of Creoles (locally born Europeans), most of them owned large estates. A period of internal instability and striffe followed, which resulted in the restoration of Spanish rule in 1814. Combined Argentinian and Chilean forces under Jose de San Martin and Bernardo O'Higgins, who crossed the Andes from Argentina, managed to defeat and drive out the Spanish army and restore Chile's independence (1818). O'Higgins became Chile's first president.Chile defeated Bolivia and Peru in a war (1879-1883) for the control of the Atacama Desert and its rich mineral deposits. In the course of this war, Chilean troops occupied Lima. Chile won the disputed territory. Bolivia lost its outlet to the open sea and Peru the Tarapaca district.A multiparty, parliamentary regime came into being in 1891, however, the interests of the upper class, comprised mainly of owners of large states and wealthy business people, continued to predominate. After a short period of military rule (1924-1925), followed by the reinstatement of the democratically elected president Arturo Alessandri, a new, more progressive, constitution came in force (1925). Left-wing parties, including communist, gained much influence from 1930s onward and played an important role in elections of several presidents. However, the right-wing parties ramained in actual control.A presidential candidate of the left-wing parties, Salvador Allende, won the elections in 1970. Upon ussuming office, he nationalized the mines, industries, and public services. Allende was deposed and died in a military coup in September 1973, which was followed by 16 years of military dictatorship by General Augusto Pinochet. Democratic elections were held in 1989. Democracy was restored in 1990 with the asumption of the presidency by Patricio Alwin Azocar, following free elections.

NATIONAL FESTIVITY

POPULATION

La diversità razziale in Cile e minore agli altri paesi americani. Esistono circa 150.000 indigeni Mapuche, 95% dei quali vivono nella foresta in torno a Temuco, fra i fiumi Bio-Bio e Toltén (500 km a Sud di Santiago).Un quinto della popolazione cilena è Europea, il resto sono mettici. L'immigrazione è stata molto minore a quella dell'Argentina e Brasile. La maggioranza degli immigranti tedeschi, francesi e italiani immigranti sono venuti fra il 1846 e il 1864 come piccoli farmers presso i boschi di Bio-Bio.Fra 1880 e 1900 ricercatori d'oro serbi e croati rimassero ben a Sud, mentre i britannici divennero farmers (took up sheep farming)e commercio nella stessa regione. La influenza degli immigranti lungo il Cile è proporzionale al loro numero: la loro impronta sulla terra si vede, ad esempio, nella apparenza tedesca di Valdivia, Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas e Osorio.Oggi è in corso un intenso processo di urbanizzazione della popolazione. Le città si stano espandendo, in parte perché molti hanno lasciato la campagna e adesso l'83% della popolazione abita nelle città. Trovare abitazione rimane un problema dovuto al incremento della popolazione ma anche se rimangono molte aree depresse la situazione è migliorata negli ultimi anni con il boom economico cileno.

SCHEDA

Capitale: SANTIAGO  
Popolazione: 15.297.000 abitanti  
Superficie: 756.626 Km2
Fuso orario: tra ottobre e marzo è in vigore l'ora legale locale. Durante tale periodo la differenza oraria con l'Italia è di -4h; -6h quando in Italia vige l’ora legale.
Lingue:  Spagnolo  
Religione: Cattolica  
Moneta: Peso cileno (CLP)
Prefisso dall'Italia: 0056  
Prefisso per l'Italia: 0039 
Telefonia mobile: 00569