Chile

• temperate;
• desert in north;
• Mediterranean in central region;
• cool and damp in south

• low coastal mountains;
• fertile central valley;
• rugged Andes in east

total:

12.55 cu km/yr (11%/25%/64%)

per capita:

770 cu m/yr (2000)

• severe earthquakes;
• active volcanism;
• tsunamis

• widespread deforestation and mining threaten natural resources;
• air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions;
• water pollution from raw sewage

• strategic location relative to sea lanes between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage);
• Atacama Desert is one of world's driest regions

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

noun:

Chilean(s)

adjective:

Chilean

conventional long form:

Republic of Chile

conventional short form:

Chile

local long form:

Republica de Chile

local short form:

Chile

name:

Santiago

geographic coordinates:

33 27 S, 70 40 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins second Sunday in October; ends second Sunday in March

• 15 regions (regiones, singular - region);
• Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo, Antofagasta, Araucania, Arica y Parinacota, Atacama, Biobio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Los Rios, Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana (Santiago), Tarapaca, Valparaiso

note: the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica

• based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law;
• judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction;
• note - in June 2005, Chile completed overhaul of its criminal justice system to a new, US-style adversarial system

chief of state:

President Michelle BACHELET Jeria (since 11 March 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Michelle BACHELET Jeria (since 11 March 2006)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a single four-year term;
• election last held 11 December 2005, with runoff election held 15 January 2006 (next to be held in December 2009)

election results:

• Michelle BACHELET Jeria elected president;
• percent of vote - Michelle BACHELET Jeria 53.5%;
• Sebastian PINERA Echenique 46.5%

• Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the president and ratified by the Senate from lists of candidates provided by the court itself; the president of the Supreme Court is elected every three years by the 20-member court);
• Constitutional Tribunal (eight-members - two each from the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Supreme Court, and National Security Council - review the constitutionality of laws approved by Congress)

• Alliance for Chile (Alianza) or APC (including National Renewal or RN [Carlos LARRAIN Pena] and Independent Democratic Union or UDI [Juan Antonio COLOMA Correa]);
• Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertacion) or CPD (including Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Juan Carlos LATORRE Carmona], Socialist Party or PS [Camilo ESCALONA Medina], Party for Democracy or PPD [Pepe AUTH Stewart], and Radical Social Democratic Party or PRSD [Jose Antonio GOMEZ Urrutia]);
• Communist Party or PC [Guillermo TEILLIER del Valle];
• Humanist Party [Marilen CABRERA Olmos]

• Roman Catholic Church, particularly conservative groups such as Opus Dei;
• United Labor Central or CUT includes trade unionists from the country's five largest labor confederations

other:

revitalized university student federations at all major universities

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jose Maria GONI Carrasco

chancery:

1732 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 785-1746

FAX:

[1] (202) 887-5579

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Paul E. SIMONS

embassy:

Avenida Andres Bello 2800, Las Condes, Santiago

mailing address:

APO AA 34033

telephone:

[56] (2) 330-3000

FAX:

[56] (2) 330-3710, 330-3160

• two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red;
• a blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of the white band;
• the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center representing a guide to progress and honor;
• blue symbolizes the sky, white is for the snow-covered Andes, and red represents the blood spilled to achieve independence

note: design was influenced by the US flag

agriculture:

13.2%

industry:

23%

services:

63.9% (2005)

lowest 10%:

1.6%

highest 10%:

41.7% (2006)

• grapes, apples, pears, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, beans;
• beef, poultry, wool;
• fish;
• timber

general assessment:

• privatization begun in 1988;
• most advanced telecommunications infrastructure in South America;
• modern system based on extensive microwave radio relay facilities;
• fixed-line connections have dropped in recent years as mobile-cellular usage continues to increase, reaching a level of 90 telephones per 100 persons

domestic:

extensive microwave radio relay links; domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations

international:

• country code - 56;
• submarine cables provide links to the US and to Central and South America;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008)

• gas 2,676 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 519 km;
• oil 892 km;
• refined products 769 km (2008)

total:

5,481 km

country comparison to the world: 33

broad gauge:

1,706 km 1.676-m gauge (850 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

3,777 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

80,505 km

country comparison to the world: 58

paved:

16,745 km (includes 2,414 km of expressways)

unpaved:

63,760 km (2004)

• 18-45 years of age for voluntary male and female military service, although the right to compulsory recruitment is retained;
• service obligation - 12 months for Army, 22 months for Navy and Air Force (2008)

males age 16-49:

4,242,912

females age 16-49:

4,182,509 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

3,573,165

females age 16-49:

3,523,649 (2009 est.)

male:

145,766

female:

139,648 (2009 est.)

• Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reinvigorated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile has offered instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile to Bolivian gas and other commodities;
• Chile rejects Peru's unilateral legislation to change its latitudinal maritime boundary with Chile to an equidistance line with a southwestern axis favoring Peru, in October 2007, Peru took its maritime complaint with Chile to the ICJ;
• territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine and British claims;
• the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001, has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur)

• transshipment country for cocaine destined for Europe and the region;
• some money laundering activity, especially through the Iquique Free Trade Zone;
• imported precursors passed on to Bolivia;
• domestic cocaine consumption is rising, making Chile a significant consumer of cocaine (2008)