CHILE
Chile is a long, narrow
country that extends from the Andes Mountains
to the Pacific Ocean on the
southwest side of South America
in the Altiplano to 56° 30' S at the far end of
continental Chile in its Antarctic territory.
Chile has a unique
geography: its territory includes Easter Island,
in Polynesia, 3,700 km from
the mainland, as well as territory
in Antarctica (Chile Antártico, 1,250,000
km2).
Continental and insular Chile, which includes the mainland and
offshore
islands and archipelagos, covers 756,096 km2.
Chile's main territory
is roughly twice the size of Germany
and consists of a strip of land 4,200 km
long and 90 to 440 km wide.
In the far south, the land is transected by
hundreds of islands and fiords.
Santiago is the
country's capital and largest city in terms of
population and employment, with
6,061,185 inhabitants as of the 2002 census.
Located on parallel 33° S, at
roughly the same latitude
as Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Santiago is the
country's main
political, economic, cultural and industrial center.
It is the
gateway to Chile and one of the most modern capital cities on the continent.
Chile is sandwiched between two great forces of nature: the
Pacific Ocean
to the west and the high peaks of the Andes to the east.
The
country in located in the southeastern part of
South America and borders Peru
to the north,
Bolivia to the northeast and Argentina to the east.
Atacama Desert, the most arid region on the planet.
The country has two dominant mountain ranges
– the
Cordillera de la Costa (Coastal Mountain Range) and the Andes.
Chile's climate is
shaped by factors of latitude, altitude and relief.
