Where is Chile?
About Chile
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Chile is a vast country in the south west of South America. It includes Easter Island, 3512 kms to the west of Chile.
Chile has a border on the Pacific Ocean.
The land is a mixture of low coastal mountains and fjords, a central valley and the high Andes Mountains in the east.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Chile, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 30 00S
Longitude - 71 00W
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Check the weather in Santiago now.
This is the time in Santiago now
The Chilean flag is 2 equal horizontal
stripes of white, at the top, and red with a blue square, the same height as the white band, in the top flag pole side corner. The square has a white star in the centre.
Blue is for the sky, white is the snow on the Andes Mountains and red is the blood spilled in achieving independence.
The capital of Chile is Santiago.
Chile is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Chile is the Chilean peso.
Spanish is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Chile is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Chile is the Chilean peso.
Spanish is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Chile to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Chile is 743,812 sq kms which is the 7th largest in South America.
Chile has lakes, rivers and canals which total 12,290 sq kms.
Chile has boundaries with 3 countries
- Argentina 6,691 kms
- Bolivia 942 kms
- Peru 168 kms
Chile has a coastline of 6,435 kms which is the 2nd longest in South America.
The highest point in Chile is Nevado Ojos del Salado at 6,880 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Chile is 17.65 million people, making it the 6th largest country in South America by population.
Of this number 8.97 million are females and 8.68 million are males.
A person from Chile is called a Chilean.
To be a citizen of Chile you must be born in Chile or one of your parents must be a citizen of Chile. You have to live in Chile for
5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Chile, by population are:-
- Santiago 4,837,295 people
- Puente Alto 510,417
- Antofagasta 309,832
- Vina del Mar 294,551
- Valparaiso 282,448
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
89.5% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
89.5% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Chile is 13.7 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Chile is 6.1 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 6.2 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 7.2 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 35.2 and for males is 32.9. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.
The elderly dependency ratio is 15.2. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 6.6. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Chile spends 7.8% of its total income on health care.
There are 1.02 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 2.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
28.0% of the population are estimated as obese.
99.7% of the urban population and 93.3% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
100.0% of the urban population and 90.9% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Chile releases 76.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 4th highest in South America.
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Chile spends 4.8% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 6 in Chile. Primary education is for seven years until age 13. Secondary education, which is not compulsory,
can continue till 17.
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the first week of March and finishes in the middle of December. There is usually a 2 week
break in July and a 1 week break in September.
97.4% of females and 97.6% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
17.2% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 18.8% are unemployed while with males 16.1% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Chile is 8.78 million.
They work in the following sectors.
- Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
- Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
- Services is everything else
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There are 90 paved airports in Chile, which is the 6th highest number in South America.
There are 7,281 kilometres of railways in Chile, the 3rd longest in South America.
There are 18,119 kilometres of roads in Chile, which means Chile is in 7th place for the most kilometres of roads in South America.
There are 4 major national newspapers in Chile.
There are 23.21 million mobile phone users.
20% of the people have a fixed landline.
11.26 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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