| Highlights |
Beginning in the far north - Arica, the home of the famous and beautiful San Marcos Cathedral, is an excellent tourist centre, with good beaches and conditions ideal for deep-sea fishing. You can travel south through the Atacama Desert, from the port of Antofagasta, the main stopping point for air services, shipping lines and rail connections. From here visit Chuquicamata, the world's largest open cast copper mine, and the archaeological oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama. Further south lies the lovely bathing resort of Bahia Inglesa, and further south still is the stunning provincial capital of La Serena. At the mouth of the Elqui, La Serena boasts fine buildings and streets, and attractive reproductions of Spanish colonial style architecture. Excursions can be made to the rich fruit-growing region of the Elqui Valley, and tours can be arranged to the Mamalluca Observatory, the largest in the southern hemisphere.
The stunning snow capped peaks of the Andes provide the perfect backdrop to rolling green fields, vineyards and orange groves. Here in the more temperate and pastoral region of Chile, lies Valparaiso, the principal port. The Valparaiso Sporting Club offers a race course, polo grounds and playing fields, and to the north the fashionable seaside resort of Vina del Mar, casinos, clubs and modern hotels. There are excellent roads from Valparaiso to Santiago. Here you will find all the conveniences of a modern capital city. Fine views of the city can be found at the San Cristobal Hill, also a zoo, gardens and restaurants. From Santiago you can reach the skiing resorts of Portillo, Farellones and the more fashionable Valle Nevado. Immediately south, in the heartland of Chile, are many vineyards where the famous Chilean Carmeneres and Cabernet Sauvignons are produced. Continuing south you reach Talca with its fine parks and museums. The Fernandez Islands lie to the west of Valparaiso, Robinson Crusoe territory; these can be reached either by plane or boat from the Chilean mainland.
Easter Island lies west of the mainland. All over this fascinating and beautiful island can be found the incredible Moai, gigantic stone figures up to 9m high, also the crater of the volcano Rano Kao, the rock carvings at Oranoco and the museum in the main town of Hanga Roa. The best method of travel to the island is by plane. Tours can be arranged with a tour guide, and jeeps, trucks, motorbikes and horses can be hired.
The beginning of the stunning Lake District is marked by Temuco. LakeVillarrica, the Trancura and Cincirarivers combine to create not only beauty but an angler's paradise! A visit to the impressive waterfalls at Laguna de Laja is recommended and also Lake Todos los Santos is well worth a visit. Pucon is a hub of activity, with canyoning, canoeing, horseriding and trekking all available, as well as the various hot springs to relax in at the end of the day. The picturesque town of Puerto Montt and nearby, the colourful small fishing port of Angelmo lie at the southernmost end of the railway line and the Pan American Highway. Picturesque colourful houses on stilts are the classic image of Chiloe Island, with its fascinating mythology and virtually unexplored national parks.
Further south still, the more intrepid traveller will make their way into the harsh landscape of Chilean Patagonia, with its fjords and spectacular glaciers. The stunning Torres del Paine national park is the main reason to explore the Magallanes region, and is one of Chile's most staggering features, with its turquoise glacial lakes, towering snowy peaks and rugged hills covered in guacanos, Torres del Paine is a trekking and climbing paradise.
Squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific, Chile is one of the world's most geographically unique countries, with its 4300 mile length stretching over more than half the South American continent. From the rain-starved Atacama to the stormiest reaches of the splintered Magallanes region, Chile is an easy country to travel, with an excellent transport system, affectionate people and more importantly something different and unfailingly beautiful to look at every step of the way.
In recent years Chile has become one of Latin America's success stories, most evident in capital with its booming financial district and increasingly cosmopolitan lifestyle. With the mountains an ever-present feature of the landscape, you can be sure never to get lost - directions in the capital are limited to heading 'up' towards the mountains, or 'down' away from them. Tuck in to some tasty homemade bread with the ubiquitous spicy salsa called pebre before a barbecue, take a sip of your first delicious Carmenere wine, and enjoy the mild Santiago evenings before heading up, or down, to explore the rest of this beautiful country.
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| History |
A conquered nation, like its neighbours, Chile went through colonisation in the north at the hands of the Spaniard Pedro de Valdivia, who then founded the capital Santiago in 1541. Meanwhile, in the south, it took European conquerors more than 300 years to colonise the resisting Mapuche Indians
With a developing civil unrest due to Spain's firm trade control and domination of farm estates, Chile was finally liberated in 1818 thanks to the Argentinean José de San Martín and Bernarndo O'Higgins, who was a dictator for five years and established Catholicism as the nation's religion.
Chile later gained its Tarapaca, Tacna and Arica regions from Bolivia, and took control of the Atacama after the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). As a result of this Chile and Bolivia have had recurrent border disputes ever since.
In 1891 civil war broke out and a parliamentary principle of government was established. Marxist Dr Salvador Allende was elected in 1970, this was violently opposed and a subsequent military coup resulted in the death of Allende.
General Pinochet Ugarte was declared Supreme Chief of State and President - the military dictatorship under his rule was to last 17 years. The ruling military junta's main aim was to eradicate the Communist Party. Thousands of Allende's supporters were killed and tortured while others were forced into exile due to Pinochet's extreme right-wing policies. any people were simply 'disappeared'. Censorship and the banning of all political activity were authorised.
Pinochet did at least bring financial stability to Chile, with a free market economy. In 1989 he stepped down as leader, relaxing his extreme policies when it was felt that the Marxist influences were no longer a threat to the country. A gradual return to representative government was arranged and Patricio Aylwin, the opposition leader, was elected President in 1989. He won with 55% of the votes and so began the slow path to democracy.
For a long time ruling parties have tended to be socialist and Chile voted in its first female president, Michelle Bachelet, in 2006. The country is now in the hands of the candidate she beat back then, Sebastián Piñera, from the right-wing Coalition for Change party.
2010 was a big year for Chile, not least as it celebrated its 200 years of independence. The 8.8 magnitude earthquake in February killed around 500 people and damaged thousands of buildings. The successful rescue of 33 miners trapped in the San José copper mine for more than two months was a news story that brought hope and unity not just to Chileans but around the world.
Although President Pinera, having ignited the anger of the student population in particular, is suffering the lowest popularity of any leader since Pinochet, as a new member of the OECD, and with an economy that has successfully staved off recession during global financial crisis, the picture continues to look good for Chile.
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| Geography |
Chile situated in South America, is bounded to the north by Peru, to the east by Bolivia and Argentina, to the west by the Pacific and to the south by the Antarctic. It is a remarkably shaped ribbon of land, 2610 miles in length and nowhere more than 115 miles wide. The Andes and a coastal highland range take up one third or half of the width in parts, and run parallel with each other from north to south. The coastal range forms high, sloped cliffs into the sea from the northern to the central area. Between the ranges runs a fertile valley, except in the north where transverse ranges join the two major ones, and in the far south where the sea has broken through the coastal range to form an assortment of archipelagos and channels.
The country contains wide variations of soil and vast differences of climate. The northern part of the country consists mainly of the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world. The south is forested, and contains some agriculture; further south the forests on the Atlantic side give way to rolling grassland on which sheep and cattle are raised. Chile exercises sovereignty over a number of islands off the coast, including the Juan Fernandez Islands, where Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) was shipwrecked, and Easter Island.
The climate ranges from hot and arid in the north to very cold in the far south. The central areas have a mild Mediterranean climate with a wet season (May to August). Beyond Puerto Montt in the south is one of the wettest and stormiest areas in the world.
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