Chile

Largest cities in Chile

Famous people from Chile

• Pablo Neruda

  Literature

  Nobel Prize in Literature (1971), one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, whose love poems are read worldwide

• Gabriela Mistral

  Literature

  First Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1945), poet, educator, and feminist icon

• Isabel Allende

  Literature

  Most widely read Spanish-language author alive, The House of the Spirits has been translated into 42 languages

• Arturo Vidal

  Sport

  Combative midfielder who starred at Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona, heart of Chile's Copa America triumphs

• Violeta Parra

  Music

  Folk singer and artist who composed Gracias a la Vida, one of the most covered songs in Spanish-language music

• Roberto Matta

  Art

  Surrealist painter considered one of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century

• Alexis Sanchez

  Sport

  Chile's all-time top scorer who starred at Barcelona and Arsenal, key player in back-to-back Copa America wins

• Salvador Allende

  Politics

  First democratically elected Marxist president in the world, whose presidency and overthrow shaped Latin American politics

Traditional cuisine of Chile

Empanada de Pino

Baked pastry filled with ground beef, onion, hard-boiled egg, olive, and raisins - the essential Chilean snack

Curanto

Ancient Chiloe cooking method - shellfish, meat, and potatoes cooked in a pit with hot stones and giant nalca leaves

Pastel de Choclo

Casserole of ground corn baked over a filling of meat, chicken, olives, and hard-boiled egg, sweet and savory at once

Cazuela

Hearty clear broth with a piece of meat, potato, corn on the cob, and pumpkin - Chile's ultimate comfort soup

Completo

Chilean hot dog loaded with mashed avocado, diced tomato, and mayo, a street food institution sold at every corner

Sopaipillas

Fried pumpkin dough rounds eaten with pebre salsa or drizzled with chancaca syrup on rainy days

Caldillo de Congrio

Conger eel soup so beloved that Pablo Neruda wrote a poem about it, a coastal classic of fish, tomatoes, and potatoes

Mote con Huesillo

Sweet drink of wheat berries and dried peaches in syrup, sold from street carts and the unofficial drink of Chilean summer

Nature and landmarks in Chile

Atacama DesertDesert

The driest non-polar place on Earth, where some weather stations have never recorded rain, and NASA tests Mars rovers

Torres del PaineNational Park

Patagonian national park of granite towers, glaciers, and turquoise lakes, consistently voted one of the world's most beautiful places

Easter IslandIsland

Remote Pacific island 3,500 km offshore, famous for its 887 mysterious moai stone statues carved by the Rapa Nui people

PatagoniaNational Park

Southern wilderness of glaciers, fjords, and wind-swept steppes shared with Argentina, one of Earth's last frontiers

Andes MountainsMountain

Chile's eastern spine includes peaks above 6,000 meters, active volcanoes, and ski resorts just an hour from Santiago

Chilean FjordsCoast

Labyrinth of channels, glaciers, and forested islands in southern Chile, among the least explored coastlines on Earth

Valle de la LunaDesert

Moon Valley in the Atacama with bizarre salt formations, sand dunes, and some of the most spectacular sunsets on the planet

Lake DistrictLake

Region of snow-capped volcanoes reflected in pristine lakes, dense araucaria forests, and German-influenced towns

Sports in Chile

Football

Back-to-back Copa America champions (2015, 2016), La Roja's greatest era in football history

Tennis

Marcelo Rios became the first Latin American to reach world No. 1, and Nicolas Massu won Olympic gold in 2004

Rodeo

Chile's official national sport, where huasos on horseback pin calves against padded walls in a medialuna arena

Skiing

World-class Andean ski resorts within an hour of Santiago, hosting South American winter seasons from June to October

Did you know?

1. 1

   Chile is one of the world's most elongated countries - never more than 350 km wide but stretching 4,300 km from north to south

2. 2

   The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar place on Earth, with some areas receiving no measurable rainfall in recorded history

3. 3

   Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, 3,500 km from the Chilean mainland

4. 4

   Chile produces about a quarter of the world's copper, more than any other country

5. 5

   The country spans 38 degrees of latitude, equivalent to the distance from the Sahara to Scandinavia

6. 6

   Chilean wine regions produce some of the world's best Carmenere, a grape variety nearly extinct in France but thriving here

7. 7

   The Elqui Valley in northern Chile has some of the darkest, clearest skies on Earth, with major observatories on its peaks

8. 8

   Chile has over 2,000 volcanoes in the Andes, of which about 90 are considered active

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