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Chile
South AmericaSouth America
756 Thousand km²
Quick Facts
Capital
Santiago
Area
756,102 km²
Language
Spanish
Currency
Chilean Peso (CLP)
Calling Code
+56
Drives On
Right
Internet
.cl
Timezone
CLT (UTC-3 / UTC-4)
Script
Latin
Government
Presidential Republic
Independence
1818
Map tiles by CARTO. Data by OpenStreetMap.
Chile is the world's most improbable country shape - a ribbon of land 4,300 km long but never more than 350 km wide, squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific like a bookmark dropped between two pages. This extreme geography means Chile contains almost every landscape on Earth: the driest desert (Atacama), some of the tallest volcanoes, ancient forests, fjords, glaciers, and one of the most remote inhabited islands on the planet (Easter Island, 3,500 km offshore).
Two Nobel Prize-winning poets came from this narrow strip - Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda - and Chileans take their wine, their seafood, and their mountains very seriously. The Atacama Desert is so dry that NASA uses it to test Mars rovers. Torres del Paine in Patagonia is consistently voted one of the most beautiful places on Earth. And somehow, in between the extremes, there's Santiago - a modern capital of 7 million people ringed by snow-capped Andes, where you can ski in the morning and taste Carmenere wine by afternoon.
Largest Cities in Chile
1
Santiago
Capital ringed by the Andes, a modern city of skyscrapers, wine bars, and world-class restaurants with mountains visible from every corner
7,100,000
2
Valparaiso
UNESCO-listed port city of colorful hillside houses, funicular elevators, and street art, Chile's cultural bohemian heart
1,000,000
3
Concepcion
Second largest metro area and university city in the south, rebuilt repeatedly after earthquakes
800,000
4
Antofagasta
Mining capital on the edge of the Atacama Desert, the economic engine of Chile's copper industry
400,000
5
Temuco
Gateway to the Lake District and Mapuche indigenous heartland in southern Chile
350,000
6
La Serena
Colonial city and beach resort near the Elqui Valley, one of the world's best stargazing locations
250,000
Famous People from Chile
Pablo Neruda
LiteratureNobel Prize in Literature (1971), one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, whose love poems are read worldwide
Gabriela Mistral
LiteratureFirst Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1945), poet, educator, and feminist icon
Isabel Allende
LiteratureMost widely read Spanish-language author alive, The House of the Spirits has been translated into 42 languages
Arturo Vidal
SportCombative midfielder who starred at Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona, heart of Chile's Copa America triumphs
Violeta Parra
MusicFolk singer and artist who composed Gracias a la Vida, one of the most covered songs in Spanish-language music
Roberto Matta
ArtSurrealist painter considered one of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century
Alexis Sanchez
SportChile's all-time top scorer who starred at Barcelona and Arsenal, key player in back-to-back Copa America wins
Salvador Allende
PoliticsFirst 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 & Landmarks in Chile
Atacama Desert
DesertThe driest non-polar place on Earth, where some weather stations have never recorded rain, and NASA tests Mars rovers
Torres del Paine
National ParkPatagonian national park of granite towers, glaciers, and turquoise lakes, consistently voted one of the world's most beautiful places
Easter Island
IslandRemote Pacific island 3,500 km offshore, famous for its 887 mysterious moai stone statues carved by the Rapa Nui people
Patagonia
National ParkSouthern wilderness of glaciers, fjords, and wind-swept steppes shared with Argentina, one of Earth's last frontiers
Andes Mountains
MountainChile's eastern spine includes peaks above 6,000 meters, active volcanoes, and ski resorts just an hour from Santiago
Chilean Fjords
CoastLabyrinth of channels, glaciers, and forested islands in southern Chile, among the least explored coastlines on Earth
Valle de la Luna
DesertMoon Valley in the Atacama with bizarre salt formations, sand dunes, and some of the most spectacular sunsets on the planet
Lake District
LakeRegion 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
Chile is the world's narrowest country - never more than 350 km wide but stretching 4,300 km from north to south
2
The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar place on Earth, with some areas receiving no measurable rainfall in recorded history
3
Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, 3,500 km from the Chilean mainland
4
Chile produces about a third of the world's copper, more than any other country
5
The country spans 38 degrees of latitude, equivalent to the distance from the Sahara to Scandinavia
6
Chilean wine regions produce some of the world's best Carmenere, a grape variety nearly extinct in France but thriving here
7
The Elqui Valley in northern Chile has some of the darkest, clearest skies on Earth, with major observatories on its peaks
8
Chile has over 2,000 volcanoes in the Andes, of which about 90 are considered active
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Test Your Knowledge of Chile
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