{chil'-ee} Chile is a country on the west coast of South America. It stretches in a ribbon more than 4,200 km (2,600 mi) from Peru to the southern tip of the continent at Cape \Thorn\t, including the larger part of \TTierra del Fuego\t, an archipelago separated from the mainland by the Strait of \TMagellan\t. It has an average width of 177 km (110 mi). Excluding a disputed territory of about 1,251,000 sq km (483,000 sq mi) in Antarctica, also claimed by Great Britain, Chile is slightly larger than Texas. Outlying territories include \TEaster Island\t, the Juan Fernandez Islands, and other islands in the Pacific. The \TAndes\t Mountains, reaching to more than 6,700 m (22,000 ft) above sea level, separate the country from Argentina and Bolivia. The capital and largest city is \TSantiago\t, located in the central part of the country, where most of the population is concentrated. Manufacturing and mining make Chile one of the most important industrial nations in Latin America. Fertile soils in the Central Valley produce wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, and fruit. Chile, from the Indian Tchili meaning "the deepest point of the Earth," achieved independence in 1818. THE LAND Three principal geologic regions run north and south through Chile: the Andes; the Central Valley, which is divided by mountain spurs and several rivers carrying runoff from the Andes; and a coastal escarpment (762 m/2,500 ft high), which ends in steep cliffs along the Pacific coast and includes many islands (the Archipelago) in the south. The best-known mountain ranges are in the central region and include volcanoes, such as Tupungato (6,800 m/22,310 ft), Maipu (5,322 m/17,459 ft), and Ojos del Salado (6,863 m/22,516 ft), which is the second highest peak in the Western Hemisphere. Frequent destructive earthquakes have meant heavy expenditures for relief and reconstruction that might otherwise have gone to economic development. Chile's great length and the cold waters of the \TPeru\t \Tcurrent\t offshore create three distinct latitudinal climatic regions. About 70% of all Chileans live in the region known as Middle or Mediterranean Chile, which comprises about 20% of the country's total area. This region extends from La Serena to Osorno and includes the Central Valley and the fine harbor of \TValparaiso\t. The region south of the industrial city of \TConcepcion\t has stormy winters and cool summers. The forests, lakes, and snow-capped mountains, which reach 4,267 m (14,000 ft) around Temuco, make up the country's principal vacation area. The northern region, about 1,127 km (700 mi) long, is a region of dry basins, broken only by a few rivers. It contains the \TAtacama Desert\t. Perched atop the coastal escarpment are the port cities of \TAntofagasta\t, \TArica\t, and Iquique. Some agriculture is carried on in this region, which occupies about 40% of the country's total area but has only 15% of the population. About 15% of the population lives in the southern one-third of Chile. This region is a narrow strip of forests, lakes, fjords, and islands that extends south from Chiloe Island to Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. Climate The Peru Current stabilizes temperatures in both central and northern Chile. In Santiago temperatures average 21 deg C (69 deg F) in summer (January) and 9 deg C (48 deg F) in winter (July); annual rainfall averages 356 mm (14 in), most of which occurs between May and September. Evergreens grow in the drier coastal regions, and beeches, conifers, and laurels are found at altitudes of 900-2,150 m (3,000-7,000 ft). Heavy persistent fog stabilizes temperatures in the northern desert coastal zone at 21 deg C (70 deg F) during the summer and 16 deg C (60 deg F) during the winter. In the south, average annual rainfall varies from 2,200 cm (86 in) at Puerto Montt to only 500 mm (19 in) at \TPunta Arenas\t and the Strait of Magellan. Winter and summer temperature ranges 8 deg-16 deg C (46 deg-60 deg F) at Puerto Montt and 2 deg-11 deg C (36 deg-52 deg F) at Punta Arenas. In the far south, only grasses, mosses, and ferns are able to survive the persistent cold and windy weather. Resources Chile is one of the world's most important suppliers of copper and has large reserves of iron ore, coal, sodium nitrate, iodine, borax, molybdenum, gold, silver, lead, zinc, and sulfur. The hydroelectric potential is large and well distributed, except in the desert north. THE PEOPLE About two-thirds of Chile's people are mestizos (of mixed Indian and white ancestry). Small numbers of Germans, Swiss, Italians, British, French, and Yugoslavs settled in central and southern Chile during the 19th and 20th centuries. About 150,000 descendants of the original \TAraucanian\t Indians live in the forests south of the Bio-Bio River. Spanish, the official language, is spoken by nearly all the population with the exception of some Indians, who retain their own languages. About 80% of the population are Roman Catholic. Demography The Chilean population grew steadily from 3,714,887 in 1920 to an estimated 13,200,000 in 1990--a rate comparable to the Latin American average. The urban population has increased by more than 70%. About 37% of the population are concentrated in Santiago province; many migrants live in callampas (shantytowns) on the outskirts of the city. Another 15% live in 11 provincial capitals, the most important of which are Valparaiso and Concepcion. Education and Health Since 1966, eight years of primary education has been free and compulsory. Secondary education consists of four years of scientific and humanistic studies for university-bound students or two to three years of technical and vocational training. The largest institution of higher learning is the University of Chile (1738). The country has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America. Since 1973 the once extensive state-run social welfare system has been reduced. Many programs have been eliminated, and others have been transferred to private hands. The Arts The poets Gabriela \Tmistral\t and Pablo \TNeruda\t have both won Nobel prizes. Joaquin Edwards Bello and Manuel Rojas have portrayed the grim existence of the poor in their novels, and Eduardo Barrios is a master of the psychological novel (see \TLatin American literature\t). Noted musicians include the pianist Claudio \TArrau\t, the singer Ramon Vinay, and the composers Gustavo Becerra and Domingo Santa Cruz. Works of the best Chilean sculptors and painters are found in the National Museum of the Arts. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY The Chilean economy is based on manufacturing and service. Mining, which provides about half of all exports, employs a tiny percentage of the labor force. The government has played a major role in economic development since 1939, when the Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from its Spanish name) was created to support substitution of domestic manufactures for imported goods. Since seizing power in 1973, the Pinochet government has dismantled tariff barriers, and its policies have tended to concentrate wealth in fewer hands. Competition from foreign imports, falling prices for mineral exports, and a rising external debt (much if it incurred by the private sector) led to a recession in the 1980s. The number of workers belonging to labor unions declined from about 30% in 1975 to 9% in 1987, and about one-third of the labor force is unemployed or underemployed. Chile surpassed the United States as the world's leading producer of copper in 1982. The large copper mines, nationalized by the Allende government, remain under state control. Molybdenum, iron ore, gold, silver, nitrates, lithium, and other minerals are also exported, and petroleum fields in the south supply about half of all domestic requirements. Major manufactures include automobiles, chemicals, rubber products, cement, and consumer goods. Chilean wine has long been well known, and forestry and fishing have expanded rapidly since the mid-1970s. In 1955 only 9.7% of the farms occupied 86% of the total farmland, and nearly 85% of the farms occupied only 3% of the land. The colonial system of land tenure survived until the passage of the Agrarian Reform Law in 1967. By 1972 the government had distributed over 7 million ha (17 million acres) to more than 40,000 families, organized principally into cooperatives. The Pinochet government returned some expropriated land to its original owners and ended aid to small farmers. Stock raising is the chief activity in most rural areas. Wheat, other grains, and vegetables are grown for food. Chile's extensive railroad system, largely state-owned, connects many cities with the coast and with Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. A paved highway system runs the length of the country, and port facilities are well developed. In addition to minerals, timber, paper, and pulp, important exports include fruit, wine, and fishmeal. Foodstuffs, raw materials, and petroleum are the major imports. GOVERNMENT Chile returned to democratic government in 1990 after being governed by a military junta led by Gen. Augusto \TPinochet Ugarte\t since a 1973 coup d'etat. A 1980 plebiscite approved a new constitution, which replaced the 1925 charter suspended in 1973. Under the 1981 constitution executive power rests with a directly elected president, and legislative power is vested in a bicameral National Congress. HISTORY The first European exploration of the region that is now Chile was made in 1535 by Diego de \TAlmagro\t. Unlike Peru, the land yielded little gold, and the native Araucanian Indians offered fierce resistance. In 1541, Pedro de \TValdivia\t established several settlements, including Santiago. In 1553, Valdivia was killed by \TLautaro\t, an Araucanian who became the hero of the epic poem La Araucana. Chilean-born Spaniards (Creoles) declared their autonomy and established a governing junta on Sept. 18, 1810. Although the Spanish crown regained control, its forces were defeated by Chileans and Argentines led by Bernardo O'HIGGINS and Jose de \TSan Martin\t. Independence was proclaimed on Feb. 12, 1818, and O'Higgins was elected supreme director. By 1830, O'Higgins was in exile, and conservative landowners and merchants were in control of a centralized government. A constitution adopted in 1833 remained in effect until 1925. After defeating Bolivia and Peru in the War of the Pacific (1879-84), victorious Chilean armies finally defeated Araucanian forces to end the Indian wars. Arturo \TAlessandri\t pushed through a new constitution in 1925 that provided for direct popular election of the president, separation of church and state, and compulsory primary education. Since the depression of the 1930s, few Chilean governments have been able to solve the problems of inflation, fluctuating copper prices dependent upon U.S. corporations that owned the principal mines, and the problems caused by the inequitable landholding system. In 1964, Eduardo \TFrei Montalva\t of the Christian Democrats began buying the U.S. copper companies and expropriating land, but he encountered opposition on all fronts. In 1970, Salvador \TAllende\t, head of a new Popular Unity coalition made up of Socialists, Communists, and leftist Radicals, won an electoral plurality and was confirmed as president. He became the first constitutionally elected Marxist president in the Western Hemisphere. Allende then finished the process of nationalizing the U.S. copper firms, nationalized all private banks, and accelerated land distribution. After three turbulent years, the military seized power, and Allende reportedly committed suicide. Subsequently, it was revealed that anti-Allende forces had been financed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Censorship and a state of siege were imposed as the right-wing junta dedicated itself to eradicating "the cancer of Marxism." Consequently, the Pinochet government was widely criticized for violating human rights. The new government returned many factories, banks, and expropriated land to private owners. After sustained economic growth in the late 1970s, Chile plunged into a deep recession in 1982-83, which sparked an upsurge of political opposition. In the mid-1980s the economy began a sustained upturn. During 1988, Pinochet lifted all states of emergency and gave permission for all remaining political exiles to return. In October, Pinochet was the sole candidate in a plebiscite on whether he should serve an additional eight years in a transition to democracy. The fragmented opposition united to defeat him, but he remained in office until March 1990 (and after that continued as army commander in chief). Presidential elections were held on Dec. 14, 1989, and were won by Patricio \TAylwin\t, a moderate candidate from the Christian Democratic party who headed a coalition ticket. Neal J. Pearson Bizzaro, S., Historical Dictionary of Chile, 2d ed. (1987); Butland, Gilbert J., Chile: An Outline of Its Geography, Economics and Politics (1956; repr. 1982); Canto, J. P., Economic and Social Progress of the Republic of Chile (1977); Davis, N., The Last Two Years of Salvador Allende (1985); Dorfman, Ariel, Chile: From Within (1991); Falcoff, M., Modern Chile, 1970 to 1989 (1989); Foxley, A., Latin American Experiments in Neo-Conservative Economics (1984); Galdames, Luis, A History of Chile (Eng., trans., 1941; repr. 1964); Loveman, Brian, Chile: The Legacy of Hispanic Capitalism, 2d ed. (1987); Politzer, Patricia, Fear in Chile: Lives under Pinochet (1989); Sigmund, Paul E., The Overthrow of Allende and the Politics of Chile, 1964-76 (1978); Valenzuela, J. S. and A., eds., Military Rule in Chile (1986). See also: \TLatin America, history of\t.