Chile

Table of Contents

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
  - The Chilean Andes
  - The intermediate depression
  - The coastal cordilleras
- Drainage
- Soils
- Climate
  - The northern desert
  - Mediterranean central Chile
  - Southern Chile
- Plant and animal life
- Settlement patterns
People
Economy
- Resources
  - Mineral resources, noncarboniferous
  - Energy resources
  - Forestry resources
  - Fishing resources
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Trade and finance
- Transportation
Administration and social conditions
- Government
- Education
- Health and welfare
Cultural life
- The arts
- Cultural institutions
- Recreation
- Press and broadcasting
History
- Precolonial period
- Colonial period
- Struggle for independence
- Chile from 1818 to 1920
  - The conservative hegemony, 1830–61
    - Economic prosperity
    - Political diversification
  - The widening of liberal influence, 1861–91
    - Political factions
    - European influences
    - The War of the Pacific (1879–83)
  - Political development, 1891–1920
    - Growth of the middle and lower classes
    - Formation of new political parties
    - Decline of the ruling class
- Chile after 1920
  - Political uncertainty, 1920–38
    - Effects of the world depression
    - Return to constitutional normality
  - The Radical presidencies, 1938–52
    - The presidencies of Aguirre Cerda and Ríos
    - The presidency of Gabriel González Videla
  - Political stagnation, 1952–64
    - The presidency of Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez
    - New political groupings
  - A period of change, 1964–73
    - The presidency of Frei Montalva
    - The socialist experiment
  - The military dictatorship, from 1973
- Chile in the 21st century
  - The return of socialist rule: the presidencies of Ricardo Lagos (2000–06) and Michelle Bachelet (2006–10)
  - The first presidency of Sebastián Piñera (2010–14)
  - The second presidency of Michelle Bachelet (2014–18)
  - The second presidency of Sebastián Piñera (2018–22)
  - The presidency of Gabriel Boric (2022– )

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Chile: Lake Villarrica

Santiago, Chile

Physical features of Chile

Predicting an eruption of Llaima volcano in Chile

Chile: Lake Nordenskjöld

Chile: glacial lake

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Chile: Facts & Stats

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2025

News •

Chile holds seismic drills as chance of a big quake rises • June 12, 2025, 2:56 AM ET (Reuters)

Chile’s Matthei Details Plan to Save Billions in Public Spending • June 11, 2025, 4:33 AM ET (Bloomberg.com)

Football: Soccer-Gareca steps down as Chile coach after failure to qualify for World Cup • June 10, 2025, 3:22 PM ET (The Star)

LIV Golf: Joaquin Niemann beats Graeme McDowell to delayed Virginia win • June 9, 2025, 10:03 AM ET (BBC)

Chile's Indigenous fishermen say the salmon industry threatens their way of life • June 8, 2025, 9:17 AM ET (NPR)

Facts

Also Known As	Republic of Chile • República de Chile
Head Of State And Government	President: Gabriel Boric
Capital	Santiago¹
Population	(2025 est.) 20,213,000
Currency Exchange Rate	1 USD equals 958.078 Chilean peso
Form Of Government	multiparty republic with two legislative houses (Senate [38]; Chamber of Deputies [120])
Official Language	Spanish
Official Religion	none
Official Name	República de Chile (Republic of Chile)
Total Area (Sq Km)	756,096
Total Area (Sq Mi)	291,929
Monetary Unit	peso (Ch$)
Population Rank	(2025) 66
Population Projection 2030	19,477,000
Density: Persons Per Sq Mi	(2025) 69.2
Density: Persons Per Sq Km	(2025) 26.7
Urban-Rural Population	Urban: (2019) 88.4% • Rural: (2019) 11.6%
Life Expectancy At Birth	Male: (2021) 76.1 years • Female: (2021) 82.1 years
Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 15 And Over Literate	Male: (2022) 97% • Female: (2022) 97%
Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000)	(2023) 310,628
Gni Per Capita (U.S.$)	(2023) 15,800
¹Legislative bodies meet in Valparaíso.

Photos and Videos

Chile: Lake Villarrica

Santiago, Chile

Physical features of Chile

Chile: Lake Nordenskjöld

Chile: glacial lake

Santiago: University of Chile

Predicting an eruption of Llaima volcano in Chile

Discover Chile's rich copper reserves under the Atacama Desert sands and how they are mined

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Unearth copper reserves under Chile's Atacama Desert and learn how copper is processed and traded

National anthem of Chile

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Topics

list of presidents of Chile list of cities and towns in Chile League of Nations nation-state War of the Pacific Andean Community Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Capture of Valdivia UNASUR Latin American Integration Association United States India United Kingdom China Canada Russia Germany Australia Japan France

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history of Latin America

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continent

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region, Chile

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Chile

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Quiz

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