Chile is a country in South America that borders the South Pacific Sea with a population of 19.5 million (2023). Neighboring countries include Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Chile has a strategic location relative to sea lanes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans including the Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, and the Drake Passage. Chile occupies a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Thus, the geography is varied. The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. Chile has a market-oriented economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. Chile is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Chile is known for:
And many other great things.
Santiago, Chile (also known as Santiago de Chile) is the capital of Chile and the largest city in the country. It has a population of around 7 million people, about 35.9 percent of the population of Chile. In Chile, people call the city Gran Santiago (Big Santiago) or Santiago. It has 26 “Comunas” (municipalities).
With its geographical conditions, because it is located in a valley surrounded by the Andes mountains, Santiago has a large amount of air pollution.
Check out this slideshow of our week in Santiago
Easter Island (pop., 2002: 3,791), eastern Pacific Ocean. Located 2,200 mi (3,600 km) west of Chile, it has an area of 63 sq mi (163 sq km). Initially inhabited c. AD 400 by Polynesians from the Marquesas, Easter Island has long been famous for its monolithic stone statues in human form. They are some 10–40 ft (3–12 m) high, the heaviest weighing about 82 tons. They were probably erected c. AD 1000–1600. War and disease decimated the island’s population over the succeeding centuries, and the statues’ origins were forgotten. Annexed by Chile in 1888, the island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.
Check out this slideshow of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Valparaíso is a port city on Chile’s coast. It’s known for its steep funiculars and colorful, clifftop homes. La Sebastiana, the quirky former residence of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, is now a museum with far-reaching Pacific views. During the 19th century, an influx of European immigrants left their mark on the city’s architecture and cultural institutions, many of which congregate around downtown’s Plaza Sotomayor.
Hills surround the port of Valparaiso are the predominant geographical feature of the region.
The hills have communities tied to the name of the specific hills. The hills closer to the bay have Ascensores (Hill elevators or Funicular railways).
Some tourist promotion material claim that the city is formed from 42 hills. Some maps of the lower hills have other named hills identified making a different total.
Check out this slideshow of Valparaiso and the Wine Region
Santiago is a fine base for tourists with a taste for wine. Many of the country’s best wine-producing valleys and vineyards lie within a 100-mile radius of the Chilean capital, with some just a short ride away.
There’s also an undeniable and appealing sense of history in this New World wine producing region. Vines first came to Chile via Spanish conquistadors and missionaries in the mid-16th century, but it was the French that arguably had the greatest influence on Chilean wine. Wealthy Chilean landowners visited France in the early 1800s and brought back both new techniques and new grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc.
Today, wineries dot the valleys near Santiago. Some are new, some are old, but all are based on the same rich wine-making tradition. Many offer tours and tastings, and a wine enthusiast could spend days — if not weeks — exploring all the bodegas and viñas surrounding the capital.
Check out this slideshow of Valparaiso and the Wine Region
