Chile is situated in South America, bounded by Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, the Antarctic and the Pacific Ocean. Home of the Andes mountain range, it is a thin ribbon of land, 4,200km (2,610 miles) long and nowhere more than 180km (115 miles) wide.
The Araucanian Indians were the original inhabitants of Chile. The Spanish conquered the country in the 16th century and ruled until the country’s independence in 1818. As a result of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), Chile gained Tarapacá, Tacna and Arica from Bolivia, and took control of the Atacama. Border disputes between Chile and Bolivia have been a recurrent element in Chile’s history ever since.
Elections in 1970 brought Unidad Popular, led by the Marxist Dr Salvador Allende, to power. A military coup followed, during which Allende committed suicide rather than surrender to his attackers. General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was declared Supreme Chief of State and president, and remained in power despite considerable opposition from many sectors of society. The ruling military junta assumed wide-ranging powers, its main aim being to eliminate the Communist Party and other leftist opposition. During the ‘state of siege’, political opponents were imprisoned (and many of them ‘disappeared’), censorship was systematic and all non-government political activity banned.
These powers were gradually relaxed during the 1980s. Patricio Aylwin, leader of the Concertación de los Partidos de la Democracia (CPD), a 17-party coalition in which the Christian Democrats (PCD, usually classified as center-left, in contrast with European practice) were the largest component, stood against the General and won in the presidential elections of December 1989. In 1998, Pinochet officially retired and Chile has begun to come to terms with his legacy. His arrest and subsequent detention in London in October 1998 following an extradition request from Spain polarized Chilean society. It also broke a taboo, culminating in court decisions which stripped him of his immunity from prosecution although the former ruler has not been prosecuted yet.
Because of its unusual geography, Chile has a hugely varied climate ranging from the world's driest desert in the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the center, to a snow-prone Alpine climate in the south. Travelers will enjoy the country’s abundant fauna and flora and spectacular scenery consisting of huge glaciers, fjords, waterfalls, blue lakes and numerous national parks where trekking is a very popular activity amongst tourists.
Geography
Chile is situated in South America, bordered to the north by Peru, to the east by Bolivia and Argentina, to the west by the Pacific and to the south by the Antarctic. The country exercises sovereignty over a number of islands off the coast, including the Juan Fernández Islands and Easter Island. Chile is one of the most remarkably shaped countries in the world; a ribbon of land, 4,200km (2,610 miles) long and nowhere more than 180km (115 miles) wide.
The Andes and a coastal highland range take up one-third or half of the width in parts, and run parallel with each other from north to south. The coastal range forms high, sloped cliffs into the sea from the northern to the central area. Between the ranges runs a fertile valley, except in the north where transverse ranges join the two major ones, and in the far south where the sea has broken through the coastal range to form an assortment of archipelagos and channels.
The country contains wide variations of soil and vast differences of climate. This is reflected in the distribution of the population, and in the wide range of occupations from area to area. The northern part of the country consists mainly of the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world. It is also the main mining area. The central zone is predominantly agricultural. The south is forested and contains some agriculture; further south, the forests on the Atlantic side give way to rolling grassland on which sheep and cattle are raised.