Country Profile Chile

 

  • Capital: Santiago                              
  • Population: 17.094.275 (2010)
  • Currency: Chilean peso (CLP)                                         
  • Language: Spanish (official), Mapudungun, German, English
  • Time zone:UTC-4
  • Government:Republic
  • Chief of State:President Sebastian Piñera

  • GDP real growth rate :

    • 4% (2008 est.)
    • 5.1% (2007 est.) 
    • 4.3% (2006 est.)            

  • Main Export Partners (2007):

    • China 14.8%
    • US 12.5%
    • Japan 10.5%
    • Netherlands 5.8%
    • South Korea 5.7%
    • Italy 5.1%
    • Brazil 5%

  •  Main Import partners(2007):

    • US 16.7%
    • China 11.2%
    • Brazil 10.3%
    • Argentina 9.9%
  • Country dialing code:  +56
  • Emergency numbers:  133 to contact the police131 for medical assitance             
  • National airline: Lan Chile (part of One world group with Quantas and British Airways)
  • Voltage: 220V     

Detailed country profile

ECONOMY

GDP real growth rate:

  • 4% (2008 est.)
  • 5.1% (2007 est.) 
  • 4.3% (2006 est.)

GDP- Composition by sector (2008)

  • Agriculture: 4.8%
  • Industry: 50.5%
  • Services:  44.7%

Labor force by occupation(2005):

  • Agriculture:  13.1%
  • Industry:  23%
  • Services:  63.9%

Agriculture products:

  • Grapes
  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Onions
  • Wheat
  • Corn
  • Oats
  • Peaches
  • Garlic
  • Asparagus
  • Beans
  • Beef
  • Poultry
  • Wool
  • Fish
  • Timber

Industries:

  • Copper
  • Other minerals
  • Foodstuffs
  • Fish processing
  • Iron and steel
  • Wood and wood products
  • Transport equipment
  • Cement
  • Textiles

Exports: $69.1 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Export Commodities:

  • Copper
  • Fruit
  • Fish products
  • Paper and pulp
  • Chemicals
  • Wine

Main Export Partners(2007):

  • China 14.8%
  • US 12.5%
  • Japan 10.5%
  • Netherlands 5.8%
  • South Korea 5.7%
  • Italy 5.1%
  • Brazil 5%

Imports:$59.17 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Import commodities:

  • Petroleum and petroleum products
  • Chemicals
  • Electrical and telecommunications equipment
  • Industrial machinery
  • Vehicles
  • Natural gas

Import partners(2007):

Ports and Terminals:

  • Coronel
  • Huasco
  • Lirquen
  • Puerto Ventanas
  • San Antonio
  • San Vicente
  • Valparaiso

Unemployment rate:7.5% (2008 est.)

GOVERNMENT

Government Type:Republic

Executive Branch:

Chief of state: President Sebastian Pinera
Note the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a single four-year term

Legal system:

Based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; note - in June 2005, Chile completed overhaul of its criminal justice system to a new, US-style adversarial system

GEOGRAPHY

Land Boundaries:total: 6,339 km

Border countries:

Climate:

  • temperate;
  • Desert in north;
  • Mediterranean in central region
  • Cool and damp in south

Terrain:

  • Low coastal mountains
  • Fertile central valley
  • Rugged Andes in east

Elevation Extremes:

  • Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
  • Highest point: Nevado Ojos del Salado 6,880 m

Natural resources:

  • Copper
  • Timber
  • Iron ore
  • Nitrates
  • Precious metals
  • Molybdenum
  • Hydropower

Environment and international agreement:

Party to:

  • Antarctic-Environmental Protocol
  • Antarctic-Marine Living Resources
  • Antarctic Seals
  • Antarctic Treaty
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
  • Desertification
  • Endangered Species
  • Environmental Modification
  • Hazardous Wastes
  • Law of the Sea
  • Marine Dumping
  • Ozone Layer Protection
  • Ship Pollution
  • Wetlands
  • Whaling

Environment and current issues:

  • Widespread deforestation and mining threaten natural resources
  • Air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions
  • Water pollution from raw sewage

PEOPLE

Ethnic groups:

  • White and white-Amerindian 95.4%
  • Mapuche 4%
  • Other indigenous groups 0.6%

Languages:

  • Spanish (official)
  • Mapudungun
  • German
  • English

Religion:

  • Roman Catholic 70%
  • Evangelical 15.1%
  • Jehovah's Witness 1.1%
  • Other Christian 1%
  • Other 4.6%
  • None 8.3%

HISTORY

Express History

Prior to the coming of the Spanish in the 16th century, northern Chile was under Inca rule while Araucanian Indians (also known as Mapuches) inhabited central and southern Chile.

Although Chile declared its independence in 1810, decisive victory over the Spanish was not achieved until 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its present northern regions.

It was not until the 1880s that the Araucanian Indians were completely subjugated. A three-year-old Marxist government of Salvador ALLENDE was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup led by Augusto PINOCHET, who ruled until a freely elected president was installed in 1990.

Sound economic policies, maintained consistently since the 1980s, have contributed to steady growth, reduced poverty rates by over half, and have helped secure the country's commitment to democratic and representative government. Chile has increasingly assumed regional and international leadership roles befitting its status as a stable, democratic nation.

Source: The world factbook www.cia.gov

 

 

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>>Learn about etiquette in Chile, click here Etiquette Chile

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>>Find the latest Trade Agreements with Chile, click here Trade Agreement Chile

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