Chile

Statistics

Capital: Santiago Largest City: Santiago Official Language: Spanish Government: Democratic Republic President: Michelle Bachelet Declared Independence: February 12, 1818 Independence Recognized: April 25, 1844 Area: 756,950 km Percent of Area is Water: 1.07% Population (2005): 16,136,137 Population Density: 1.07% GDP (2005): 180.6 billion GDP Per Capita: $11,300 Currency: Peso Time Zone: UTC-4 (UTC-3 in summer) Internet TLD: .cl Calling Code: +56 Major Universities:

Geography

Chile borders the westernmost edges of South America, along the shore of the Pacific Ocean and the western edge of the Andes Mountains; it shares its borders with Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its length is a vast 4,630 kilometers long compared to its mere 430 kilometers wide. At its northernmost point is the Atacama Desert, which surprisingly holds a lot of Chile's resources: copper and nitrates to mine. Much of Chile's population and agricultural businesses lives in the Central Valley, including the capital city Santiago. To the south, Chile holds much forests and grazing lands, while its southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Like Argentina, Chile occupies 1250 kilometers of Antarctica, plus the Easter and Sala-y-Gomez Islands the easternmost islands of Polynesia, and Robinson Crusoe Island. Also owned are a few uninhabited islands in the Pacific: ownership that extends Chile's power into the Pacific Ocean.

Culture

Modern Chile has been influenced by many European nations especially that of Spain, France, and England. Chile is most well known for its music and dance, especially the national dance cueca and the music style tonada. Both were heavily influenced by the Spanish invaders of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Chileans are most proud, however, of their world-renowned poets. They call their country Pas de Poetas, "Land of Poets." Most known throughout the world is the Nobel-prize winning poet Puablo Neruda. Other poets include Gabriela Mistral Pedro Prado, Vicente Huidobro, Pablo de Rokha, Juvencio Valle, Rosamel del Valle, Maximiliano Ilich Prieto, Gonzalo Rojas, Jorge Teillier, Enrique Lihn and Nicanor Parra. Also known for their novelists, Isabel Allende, Manuel Rojas, and Jorge Edwards, Jos Donoso and Roberto Bolao are all noted for their beautiful and unusual literature.

History

The peoples of present-day Chile were left alone until 1520 when Ferdinand Magellan first discovered it. He didn't stay, however, but when Spanish came in 1535 looking for gold their Western troubles began. In 1541 the city of Santiago was founded and the land of Chile was used for its wonderful agricultural land. Unlike many other native nations in South America, the people of Chile fought back and they lived relatively better than others. The Chileans declared official independence in 1818 under Bernardo O'Higgins and was made official by the Spanish throne in soon after. The new nation had internal conflicts for years, a fact that remained throughout the 19th century. Despite the new freedom that everyone gained by separating from Spain, the native Indians were still seen as inferior to the Western immigrants - like in the U.S., they were treated poorly and hunted down like animals. It wasn't until 1920 that the lower class people of Chile were able to elect a president that was supportive of their needs. Very Marxist, the new president and many subsequent had the same ideals found in Mussolini Italy in the 1920s; this continued throughout the 20th century. And like Marxist nations in Europe, poverty was high in Chile and the economic depression reached its peak in 1970. Now under the rule of Salvador Allende Gossens, the nation of Chile finally began to life economically. It was short-lived, however, and by 1973, inflation had skyrocketed along with the crumbling of the economy. In the late 1980s, a more democratic government found power along with policies to better the economy and Chile's people. In 2006 Chile was one of the first countries in the world to elect a female president, Michelle Bachelet, of the socialist party.

Economy

The Chilean economy has boasted of strong policies and regular growth of their GDP in recent decades. From the military-run government from 1973-1990 to the democratic still in power, they helped Chile remain a steady state of economic freedom - their only major role is regulation. With a strong commitment to free trade and foreign investment, especially with Asian nations in recent years, this strong policy allowed for an average 8% rise in the GDP each year in the 1990s. While the current economy is not as powerful - including a much higher 8-10% unemployment rate compared to the 5-6% of the 1990s - the average wages has risen fast over the past couple of years. The best news, many agree, is the percent in poverty has fallen dramatically: the estimated 47% in 1987 is now 18% in 2004. The same good numbers is found inflation as well. Not since 1998 has inflation gone over 5% in one year.

Study Abroad

• CIEE Chile
• ISEP - Direct Exchanges
• IES Chile - Santiago
• IFSA Butler - Chile
• Study in Valpara?so
• USAC Summer Term in Chile
• USAC Term in Chile
• Spanish Language Schools In Chile
• CSA Chile
• Study in Chile
• EIL Chile North
• EIL Chile South
• ICambio Chile