Chile

Chile.gif (6875 bytes)

Full country name: Republic of Chile

Area: 750,000 sq km

Population: 14,025,000 (growth rate 1.7%)

Capital city: Santiago (pop 5,000,000)

People: 90% mestizo, 5% Indians, 5% European descent

Language: Spanish and a handful of native languages, including Aymara, Mapuche and Rapa Nui

Religion: Over 90% Roman Catholic, 5% Protestant

Government: Christian Democrat

President: Eduardo Frei

Environment

Making up the left-hand side of South America's tapering tail, Chile's lean strip has been described by author Benjamín

Subercaseaux as an extravaganza of `crazy geography'. It extends some 4300 km from the desert north to the glacial south, is

bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and shuttered by the Andes on the east. Chile shares most of its extensive eastern

border with Argentina, and borders Peru and Bolivia in the north. Rarely extending beyond 200 km in width, Chile makes up

for longitudinal mincing by rising rapidly from sea level to 6000 metres while the country's latitudinal extremes give it a

formidable array of landscapes. Snow-capped volcanoes plunge to river canyons; the Great North, where some weather

stations have never recorded rainfall, is counterpoint to storm and snow prone Patagonia; and Chile's razored and sculpted

coastline has endowed it with beaches and bays perfect for fishing and swimming. Chile also lays claim to the offshore

territories of Easter Island (3700 km west), Juan Fernández (700 km west) and half of the southern island of Tierra del Fuego

(which it shares with Argentina).

Cerro Castillo, Aisén (18K)

The variety of habitat supports distinctive flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive system of national parks - one

of the country's major drawcards for visitors. In the parks, animals such as the endangered vicuña (a wild relative of the

alpaca), the Patagonian guanaco (a wild relative of the Andean llama), flamingos, pelicans, penguins, otters and sea lions do

the food chain thang. Chilean plant life includes stands of araucaria (the monkey-puzzle tree), cypress and rare alerce trees

(similar to the giant redwoods of California). Outside protected areas, extensive logging denudes the landscape at an alarming,

and increasing, rate.

Chile's climate is as varied as its terrain, with arid but surprisingly temperate areas in the north, a heartland which enjoys a

Mediterranean climate, and the wind, rain and snow-battered lands of Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in the south.

The rainy season in the heartland is from May to August when temperatures are cooler, getting down to an average maximum

temperature of 10 degrees Celsius in July. January's neat gin average is 28 degrees Celsius. Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del

Fuego have summer averages of just 11 degrees Celsius but if you think that's manageable, muff up and get ready for the wind

chill, baby.

History

Pre-Columbian Chile was peopled by a variety of ancient cultures, many of them politically subject to the Incas who they

predated by many centuries. The country's varied topography governed the character of its population groups and the extent

to which they were subject to Inca aggression. Native groupings included Aymara farmers in the desert north, who cultivated

maize and tended flocks of llamas and alpacas; fisherfolk in the coastal areas; Diaguita Indians in the mountainous interior;

Araucanian Indians in the centre and south, whose fishing and agricultural settlements were barely touched by Incan

incursions; and numerous groups of archipelagic hunters and fishers in the remote south.

All territory west of Brazil was granted to Spain by the 1494 Spanish-Portuguese treaty. The Spanish assigned the task of

conquering Chile to Pedro de Valdivia, whose expedition reached Chile's fertile Mapocho Valley in 1541. Santiago was

founded in the same year, with the cities of La Serena, Valparaíso, Concepción, Valdivia and Villarrica following soon after.

The Río Biobío marked the southern extent of Spanish incursions, where they were barred by the resistance of the fierce

Mapuche tribes. Valdivia rewarded his followers with enormous land grants, which resembled the great feudal estates of his

Spanish homeland. Although mining and business outstripped agriculture as Chile's merchant megaliths, it was the social

structure of the estates which shaped colonial Chile. The native population was devastated by the unwitting introduction of

infectious diseases, and the mestizo population, the offspring of Spanish and Indian unions, were used as tenant labourers on

these huge estates, many of which were still intact in the 1960s.

By the 1820s, the cumbersome methods by which taxation was extracted by a stagnant and complacent Spain allowed

flowering pan-American identity to blossom into pushes for full independence. Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín led

armies of freedom fighters from Venezuela to Peru, and from Argentina into Chile. Bernardo O'Higgins, son of an Irish

immigrant and erstwhile Viceroy of Peru, became Supreme Director of the new Chilean republic. The newly independent

Chile was a fraction of its eventual size, consisting of Santiago and Concepción, and with fuzzy borders with Bolivia and

Argentina. The coming of the railways and military triumphs over Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-83)

incorporated the mineral-rich Atacama desert to the north and the southern temperate territories. Chile quickly achieved a

degree of political stability and relative democracy, enabling rapid agricultural development and the advancement of mining,

industry and commerce. The now empowered working class and the nouveau riche both challenged the political power of the

landowning oligarchy in a brief but bloody civil war in the 1890s.

The first half of the 20th century saw the political climate swing between right and left with no government having sufficient

support to cement large scale reform. Infrastructure development was generally sluggish, leading to rural poverty and

urbanisation through desperation. It was not until the 1960s that social reforms were successfully instituted by the Christian

Democrats, who targeted housing, education, health and social services. These policies threatened the conservative elite's

privileges and also offended the radical left. Chile's politics were becoming increasingly militant, polarised and ideology-based

when the Marxist Allende's leftist coalition of Socialists, Communists and extremists snuck to victory in 1970. Allende

introduced sweeping economic reforms, including the state takeover of many private enterprises and the wholesale

redistribution of income. The country was plunged into economic chaos and America was miffed by the expropriation of

US-controlled copper mines, and also by Chile's conspicuously friendly relations with Castro's Cuba.

General Pinochet seized power in a bloody coup on 11 September 1973 using air force jets to bomb the presidential palace.

Allende died, apparently by his own hand, and thousands of his supporters were murdered. Dark days followed, with

assassinations, purges and enforced exiles commonplace. It is estimated that as many as 80,000 people were tortured or

murdered. Rumours of CIA involvement in the coup were given credence by the US-instigated suspension of credit from

international finance organisations, and the contemporaneous financial and moral support given to Allende's opponents.

Off the record

At the head of a four-man junta, Pinochet dissolved Congress, banned leftist parties and suspended all opposition. Pinochet's

monetarist economic policies brought stability and relative prosperity, but in a 1988 referendum to approve his presidency,

voters rejected him by a majority of 7%. In the 1989 multiparty elections, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin beat Pinochet's

candidate, Hernan Buchi, and power was peacefully transferred. Democracy returned to Chile although many of the previous

regime's power brokers, including Pinochet (who remains Commander-in-Chief of the army), wield a lingering influence.

Current President Eduardo Frei has undertaken the challenge of reconciling Chileans with their difficult past by accelerating

human rights tribunals and inquiries into the fate of Chile's 2000 'disappeared'. Unfortunately, resistance from the political arm

of the military machine has hampered his efforts. President Frei's economic reforms have alleviated crushing poverty to some

degree although the upheaval caused by recent entry into NAFTA has meant progress is of the two steps forward, one step

back variety.

Economic Profile

GDP: US$42 billion

World GDP ranking: 46th

GDP per head: US$3,074

Annual growth: 6.5%

Inflation: 8%

Major industries: copper, fishmeal, wine

Major trading partner: USA, Japan, Germany, UK

Culture

Chile's European heritage is pervasive meaning that Western travellers here are less conspicuous than in neighbouring Peru

and Bolivia. For centuries, the Paris education of many Chilean intellectuals influenced the country's art, music and

architecture. Important art galleries and museums and a thriving theatre scene are the result. The country's art, literature and

music have been influential internationally. Chile has spawned the Nobel Prize-winning poets Gabriela Mistral and Pablo

Neruda and, until the military coup of 1973, its cinema was among the most experimental in Latin America. Folk music has

been an especially important outlet for the country's oppressed, and was frequently performed overseas by exiles during

Pinochet's reign.

Over 90% of the population is Roman Catholic, though evangelical Protestantism is becoming increasingly popular. The

country's Catholic architecture is impressive and ubiquitous, from grandiose colonial churches to roadside shrines, some of

which are extraordinary manifestations of folk art. Spanish is Chile's official language, though a handful of native languages are

still spoken. In the north, there are more than 20,000 speakers of Aymara, and in the south there are perhaps half a million

speakers of Mapuche. The most intriguing linguistic minority is the 2000-plus speakers of Rapa Nui, the Polynesian language

of most of Easter Island's population.

Chile's cuisine reflects the country's topographical variety, and features seafood, beef, fresh fruit and vegetables. Empanadas

are large turnover snacks with a variety of fillings; humitas are corn tamales; and there are a variety of potato and flour-based

breads. Chile's biggest standard meal is lomo a lo pobre - an enormous slab of beef topped with two fried eggs and buried in

chips. The parillada, which will appal vegetarians and heart specialists, is a mixed grill including such delicacies as intestines,

udders and blood sausage. Curanto, one of the nation's finest dishes, is an all-encompassing, hearty stew of fish, shellfish,

chicken, pork, lamb, beef and potato. Chilean wines are arguably South America's best. A pisco sour is a popular drink

which easily gets you piscoed - it's a grape brandy served with lemon juice, egg white and powdered sugar.

Fish market at night

Events

The Easter and Christmas religious holidays are the most important national celebrations, but there's a conglomeration of

secular holidays in September, including Fiestas Patrias (mid-September), National Independence Day on the 18th (a

day of spirited partying and rodeos); and Armed Forces Day on the 19th. Of the innumerable local cultural festivals, the

mid-north town of Andacollo's Fiesta de la Virgin del Rosario is perhaps the weirdest. Drawing pilgrims every December

from as far afield as Bolivia, Asian-inspired team dancing fringes a procession of the Virgin's image to a huge shrine. Horse

racing and cock fighting provide ancillary entertainment for the crowds camped on surrounding hillsides.

Military parade, Santiago (16K)

Facts for the Traveller

Visas: Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia and most Western European countries do not require a visa although US

citizens do pay a US$20 levy; New Zealanders do need one. A 90-day entry permit, renewable for another 90 days, is

received on entering the country.

Health risks: Cholera

Currency: peso (Ch$)

Exchange rate: US$1 = Ch$404

Relative costs:

Cheap meal: US$5

Restaurant meal: US$15

Cheap room: US$10

Hotel room: $US25

Time: UTC minus four hours

Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz

Weights & Measures: Metric

Tourism: Estimated 1,000,000 visitors per year

Attractions

Santiago

Sprawling outwards and sky-scrapering upwards, Chile's capital, Santiago, is immense. Its central core, however, is

manageable and relatively small - a roughly triangular area bounded by the Rio Mapocho on the north. It is a city of grand

thoroughfares and plazas, lined with public buildings and churches and circled by parks. The grid town plan imposed by the

Spanish, however, is conducive to traffic jams and pollution. The Virgin Mary guards the city from the peak of the 860-metre

Cerro San Cristóbal, part of the Parque Metropolitano recreational area.

Santiago post office (17K)

The city's attractions include the colourful Mercado Central, the historical centre of Plaza de Armas, the pedestrian mall of

Paseo Ahumada (haunt of buskers and pedlars) and the late-colonial and block-filling Palacio de La Moneda - former

mint, presidential residence and the site of Allende's last stand. Santiago's has plenty of museums, including the beautifully

arranged Pre-Colombian Museum and the Museo de Santiago, which documents the city's present sprawl with dioramas

and reconstructions. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is modelled on the Petit Palais in Paris and has a fine collection of

European and Chilean art.

Paseo Puente, Santiago (11K)

Santiago's main budget-hotel area is the seedy section of town near the Terminal de Buses Norte. Mid-range and top-end

hotels can be found in the central area bounded by Avenida Balmaceda and Avenida General O'Higgins (popularly known as

the Alameda). Restaurants, from fast to flash, are in abundance, especially around the bus terminals, pedestrian malls,

Alameda and Plaza de Armas. Bellavista, known as the 'Paris quarter', is one of the city's liveliest areas, with countless

ethnic eateries and an active crafts fair on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Valparaíso

Lying 120 km north-west of Santiago, Valpo is Chile's principal port and second-largest city. Despite its size, it is Chile's

most distinctive city and one of South America's most intriguing. Occupying a narrow strip of land between the waterfront and

the nearby hills, its convoluted centre has distinctive, sinuous cobbled streets, and is overlooked by precipitous cliffs and

hilltop suburbs which are accessed by funicular railways and stairway footpaths. It truly is a rabbit-warren of a place, which

probably only a lifetime resident could completely fathom. It is conducive to maze-like strolls and rides on the funicular, and its

natural-history, fine-arts and maritime museums are justly famed. Muelle Prat, the recently redeveloped pier, is a lively market

area.

Viña del Mar

Chile's premier beach resort is only 10 km north of Valparaíso, and is popularly known as the Garden City because of its

manicured subtropical landscape of palm and banana trees. Horse-drawn carriages trot past attractive turn-of-the-century

mansions on both river and beach frontages. Other attractions are the white-sand beaches, numerous parks and notable

museums housed in restored mansions. The town is also the home of Chile's national botanical garden, comprising 61 hectares

of native and exotic plants.

La Serena

Important both historically and economically, the beachside city of La Serena is one of Chile's oldest post-Columbian cities.

The region's silver, copper and agriculture were so important that the city had its own mint. Today, La Serena maintains a

colonial air, although it is threatening Viña del Mar's supremacy as premier beach resort. Apart from a string of beautiful

beaches, attractions include a handful of museums and a number of nearby quaint villages and vineyards.

Parque Nacional Puyehue

Situated in the beautiful Lake District, this is Chile's most popular national park. It preserves 107,000 hectares of verdant

montane forest and starkly awesome volcanic scenery. Dense forest hides puma, the rare pudú (a miniature deer) and prolific

bird life, including the Chilean torrent duck. Nature trails, lake views, ski resorts, thermal springs, waterfalls and examples of

some of Chile's strange plant life, in particular the umbrella-leaved nalca and multi-trunked ulmo, are some of the many

attractions which draw visitors.

Puerto Montt

Settled by German colonists in the mid-19th century, this is one of southern Chile's most important cities. It features

middle-European architecture, with shingles, high-pitched roofs and ornate balconies. The redwood cathedral on the city's

plaza is the city's oldest building, dating from 1856. The city is the transport hub and access point to the southern Lake

District, the island of Chiloé and Chilean Patagonia. The nearby port of Angelmó and the island of Tenglo offer a more

relaxed atmosphere. Angelmó has an outstanding crafts market and fabulous seafood.

Off the Beaten Track

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine

Near Chile's fragmented southern tip, this park is Chile's showpiece: a world biosphere reserve with all the diverse scenery of

Alaska in only 180,000 hectares. The Torres del Paine are spectacular granite pillars which soar almost vertically for more

than 2000 metres above the Patagonian steppe. Cascading waterfalls, sprawling glaciers, dense forests, and the chance to see

Patagonian guanaco make it a truly awesome experience.

Parque Nacional Lauca

This world biosphere reserve, 160 km north-east of Arica, near the Bolivian border, encompasses Lake Chungará, one of the

highest lakes in the world, spectacularly situated at the foot of the dormant twin Pallachata volcanoes. It supports vicuña,

condor and vizcacha, and Aymara alpaca and llama herders. There is extensive bird life along the shores of Lake Cotacotani,

and panoramic views from the 5300-metre-high summit of Cerro Guane Guane.

Pallachata volcanoes (17K)

Volcán Osorno

This flawless cone sits in the Parque Nacional Vicente Pérez Rosales, the first national park in Chile, and is surrounded by

wonderful natural attractions. Beautiful Lago Todos Los Santos is the centrepiece of the park, looking over the thickly

wooded vista to the volcano, and offering ferry trips to nearby lakeside villages. Osorno can be climbed, and is a popular

skiing spot.

Lakes area, Volcán Osorno (14K)

Chiloé

Only about 180 km long and 50 km wide, the Isla Grande de Chiloé is a well-watered, densely forested island of undulating

hills, with a temperate maritime climate. It is linked to the Chilean mainland by ferries departing from the island's northern tip.

Its towns feature distinctive shingled houses and stilt homes, and its weather is known for precipitation and fog. When visible,

however, a majestic panorama across the gulf to the snow-capped volcanoes of the mainland are revealed. Ancud and

Castro are the only two sizeable towns, but there are over 150 picturesque wooden churches servicing the island's small

villages. Parque Nacional Chiloé protects extensive stands of native coniferous and evergreen forest and a long and almost

pristine coastline. The rare pudú also lives here.

Fishing boats, Isla Grande de Chiloé (19K)

Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael

Despite the difficulty and expense of getting here, this glacier-filled, 1.7-million hectare park in southern Patagonia is the most

popular attraction in the Aisén region. It encompasses some of the most spectacular fjord and mountain scenery in the world

and is dense with floating icebergs. The terrain is unforgiving for hikers, but the rewards are many: in the water there are

ducks, albatross, Magellanic penguins, otters, sea lions and elephant seals; in the surrounding forests and uplands there are

pudús, pumas and foxes. Charter flights from Colhaique land in the park, and there are a number of (costly) ferry services

from Colhaique and Puerto Chacabuco.

Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Lying 3700 km west of the Chilean mainland, enigmatic Easter Island is the world's most remote inhabited island. It is actually

more Polynesian than Chilean, though the presence of Pacific Islanders in this isolated part of the world is as much a mystery

as how their descendants managed to design and sculpt the hundreds of colossal statues (moai) from hard volcanic basalt - let

alone transport them from the inland quarries to the coast. This really is off the beaten track: you can sail more than 1900 km

in any direction without sighting inhabited land. Chile officially annexed the island in 1888 during the period of expansion which

followed the War of the Pacific. Only about 2000 people live on the island, and nearly all of them live in the town of Hanga

Roa. The population is 70% Polynesian, with most of the remainder coming from the Chilean mainland. The island is virtually

an open-air national park, and boasts 300 moais and related stonework.

Ahu Nau Nau, Anakena, Easter Island

Off the record

Activities

Chile's abundance of natural parks offer great trekking opportunities, particularly the Parque Nacional La Campana (easily

accessible from Santiago), Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja, Parque Nacional Huerquehue, Parque Nacional Villarrica and

Parque Nacional Puyehue. The Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is a hiker's paradise, with a well-developed trail network

and opportunities for cross-country trekking. Pucón in the Lake District attracts adventurous travellers who enjoy climbing,

river rafting, mountain biking and horseback riding. Climbing trips to Volcán Osorno are also popular. Just outside

Santiago, the resorts of Valle Nevado and Portillo provide excellent skiing. The Maipo, Claro and Biobío rivers are popular

for white-water rafting.

Getting There & Away

Chile is linked by air to North America, Europe and Australasia, and most international flights arrive in Santiago. The national

carrier is LAN-Chile. There is an international departure tax of US$12.50.

Chile's border-crossing points with Peru and Bolivia are few. The crossing between Arica in Chile and Tacna in Peru provides

the only land access to Peru; road and rail connections link Chile with Bolivia, passing through Arica, Visviri, Tambo

Quemado or Calama. Except in Patagonia, every crossing into Argentina involves crossing the Andes. Routes include

Calama-Salta, Copiapó-Tucumán via Catamarca; La Serena-San Juan; and Santiago-Mendoza. More interesting are the

many Lake District and southern Patagonian routes, with buses and ferries servicing the crossing points between Chile and

Argentina.

Getting Around

Travel within Chile is easy. Fast, punctual and comfortable buses travel the main highways, and flights are reasonably priced;

the railways, however, have been neglected since the 1970s. Competition has lowered domestic air fares, and regional airlines

and air taxis traverse the country's long extent. Air passes are particularly attractive. There is a tax of US$5 payable on

domestic flights.