Chile
| Republic of Chile | ||||||
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| Motto: Por la razón o la fuerza "By reason or force"()[1] |
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| Anthem: Himno Nacional de Chile() |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Santiago de Chile1 33°26′S 70°40′W / °S °W |
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| Official language(s) | Spanish | |||||
| Demonym | Chilean | |||||
| Government | Unitary presidential republic | |||||
| - | President | Sebastián Piñera | ||||
| - | Minister of the Interior | Rodrigo Hinzpeter | ||||
| Independence | from Spain | |||||
| - | Declared | February 12, 1818 | ||||
| - | Recognized | April 25, 1844 | ||||
| - | Current constitution | September 11, 1980 |
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| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 756,950 km2 (38th) 292,183 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 1.07² | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 30 June 2010 estimate | 17,094,270 (60th) | ||||
| - | 2002 census | 15,116,435 | ||||
| - | Density | 22/km2 (194th) 57/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $276.338 billion[2] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $15,883[2] | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $222.788 billion[2] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $12,805[2] | ||||
| Gini (2009) | 52[3] (high) | |||||
| HDI (2010) | 0.783[4] (high) (44th) | |||||
| Currency | Peso (CLP) |
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| Time zone | CLT (UTC-4) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | CLST (UTC-3) | ||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| Internet TLD | .cl | |||||
| Calling code | +56 | |||||
| 1 | The legislature is based in Valparaíso | |||||
| 2 | Includes Easter Island and Isla Sala y Gómez; does not include of territory claimed in Antarctica | |||||
Chile (,[5]), officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile ), is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Along with Ecuador, it is one of two countries in South America that do not border Brazil. The Pacific coastline of Chile is 6,435 kilometres (4000 mi).[6] Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas and Easter Island. Chile also claims about of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.
The shape of Chile is a distinctive ribbon of land long and on average wide. Its climate varies, ranging from the world's driest desert – the Atacama – in the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the centre, to a rainy temperate climate in the south.[7] The northern desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. The relatively small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources, and is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands.[8]
Prior to arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, northern Chile was under Inca rule while the indigenous Mapuche inhabited central and southern Chile. Chile declared its independence from Spain on February 12, 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879–83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its current northern territory. It was not until the 1880s that the Mapuche were completely subjugated.[6] Although relatively free of the coups and arbitrary governments that blighted South America, Chile endured the 17-year long military dictatorship (1973–1990) of Augusto Pinochet that left more than 3,000 people dead or missing.[7]
Today, Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations[7] and a recognized middle power.[9] It leads Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption.[10] It also ranks high regionally in freedom of the press and democratic development. However, it has a high economic inequality, as measured by the Gini index.[11] In May 2010 Chile became the first South American country to join the OECD.[12] Chile is a founding member of both the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations.
Etymology
There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to a theory by 17th century Spanish chronicler Diego de Rosales,[13] the Incas of Peru called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a Picunche tribal chief ("cacique") called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest in the 15th century.[14][15] Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili.[15]
Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the native Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends,"[16] "the deepest point of the Earth,"[17] or "sea gulls;"[18] or from the Quechua chin, "cold", or the Aymara tchili, meaning "snow".[19] Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a bird locally known as trile, before common in the central valleys.[16] The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-36 called themselves the "men of Chilli."[16] Ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such.[15]
History
Original settlement and Spanish colonization
About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys and coastal areas of what is present-day Chile. Example settlement sites from the very early human habitation are Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Crater's lava tube. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the Mapuche (or Araucanians as they were known by the Spaniards) successfully resisted many attempts by the Inca Empire to subjugate them, despite their lack of state organization.[20] They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army. The result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river.[21]
In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the earth, Ferdinand Magellan discovered the southern passage now named after him, the Strait of Magellan. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold. The Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Spanish Empire.[21]
Conquest of the land took place gradually, and the Europeans suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the local population. A massive Mapuche insurrection that began in 1553 resulted in Valdivia's death and the destruction of many of the colony's principal settlements. Subsequent major insurrections took place in 1598 and in 1655. Each time the Mapuche and other native groups revolted, the southern border of the colony was driven northward. The abolition of slavery by the Spanish crown in 1683 was done in recognition that enslaving the Mapuche intensified resistance rather than cowing them into submission. Despite the royal prohibitions relations remained strained from continual colonialist interference.[22]
Cut off to the north by desert, to the south by the Mapuche, to the east by the Andes Mountains, and to the west by the ocean, Chile became one of the most centralized, homogeneous colonies in Spanish America. Serving as a sort of frontier garrison, the colony found itself with the mission of forestalling encroachment by both the Mapuche and Spain's European enemies, especially the British and the Dutch. In addition to the Mapuche, buccaneers and English adventurers menaced the colony, as was shown by Sir Francis Drake's 1578 raid on Valparaíso, the colony's principal port. Because Chile hosted one of the largest standing armies in the Americas, it was one of the most militarized of the Spanish possessions, as well as a drain on the treasury of the Viceroyalty of Peru.[16] By the end of the colonial period, the population reached an estimated 500,000 (not including unsubjugated Indians); approximately 300,000 of which were mestizos and about 150,000 of which were Criollos (European or European descent).[23]
The first general census was performed by the government of Agustín de Jáuregui between 1777 and 1778. The census indicated that the population consisted of 259,646 inhabitants: 73.5% of European descent, 7.9% mestizos, 8.6% Indians and 9.8% blacks. In 1784, Francisco Hurtado, Governor of the province of Chiloé, conducted a population census and found the population consisted of 26,703 inhabitants, 64.4% of which were whites and 33.5% of which were natives.
Finally, in 1812, the Diocese of Concepción conducted a census of areas south of the Maule river, but did not include the indigenous population (estimated at 8,000 people), or the inhabitants of the province of Chiloé, (and estimated population of 210,567, 86.1% of which were Spanish or of European descent, 10% of which were Indians and 3.7% of which were mestizos, blacks and mulattos.[24]