{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "Indigenous groups inhabited central and southern Chile for several thousand years, living in mixed pastoralist and settled communities. The Inca then ruled the north of the country for nearly a century prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. In 1541, the Spanish established the Captaincy General of Chile, which lasted until Chile declared its independence in 1810. The subsequent struggle with the Spanish became tied to other South American independence conflicts, with a decisive victory not being achieved until 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia to win its current northernmost regions. By the 1880s, the Chilean central government cemented its control over the central and southern regions inhabited by Mapuche Indigenous peoples. Between 1891 and 1973, a series of elected governments succeeded each other until the Marxist government of Salvador ALLENDE was overthrown in 1973 in a military coup led by General Augusto PINOCHET, who ruled until a democratically elected president was inaugurated in 1990. Economic reforms that were maintained consistently since the 1980s contributed to steady growth, reduced poverty rates by over half, and 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." } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Southern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "30 00 S, 71 00 W" }, "Map references": { "text": "South America" }, "Area": { "total ": { "text": "756,102 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "743,812 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "12,290 sq km" }, "note": "note: includes Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and Isla Sala y Gomez" }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "7,801 km" }, "border countries": { "text": "Argentina 6,691 km; Bolivia 942 km; Peru 168 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "6,435 km" }, "Maritime claims": { "territorial sea": { "text": "12 nm" }, "contiguous zone": { "text": "24 nm" }, "exclusive economic zone": { "text": "200 nm" }, "continental shelf": { "text": "200/350 nm" } }, "Climate": { "text": "temperate; desert in north; Mediterranean in central region; cool and damp in south" }, "Terrain": { "text": "low coastal mountains, fertile central valley, rugged Andes in east" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Nevado Ojos del Salado 6,893 m (highest volcano in the world)" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Pacific Ocean 0 m" }, "mean elevation": { "text": "1,871 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum, hydropower" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "21.1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 1.7% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 18.8% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "21.9% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "57% (2018 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "11,100 sq km (2012)" }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "fresh water lake(s)": { "text": "Lago General Carrera (shared with Argentina) - 2,240 sq km; Lago O'Higgins (shared with Argentina) - 1,010 sq km; Lago Llanquihue - 800 sq km; Lago Fagnano (shared with Argentina) - 590 sq km" } }, "Population distribution": { "text": "90% of the population is located in the middle third of the country around the capital of Santiago; the far north (anchored by the Atacama Desert) and the extreme south are relatively underpopulated" }, "Natural hazards": { "text": "
severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis
volcanism: significant volcanic activity due to more than three-dozen active volcanoes along the Andes Mountains; Lascar (5,592 m), which last erupted in 2007, is the most active volcano in the northern Chilean Andes; Llaima (3,125 m) in central Chile, which last erupted in 2009, is another of the country's most active; Chaiten's 2008 eruption forced major evacuations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Cerro Hudson, Calbuco, Copahue, Guallatiri, Llullaillaco, Nevados de Chillan, Puyehue, San Pedro, and Villarrica; see note 2 under \"Geography - note\"
" }, "Geography - note": { "text": "note 1: the longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 39 degrees of latitude; strategic location relative to sea lanes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)
note 2: Chile is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire
note 3: the Atacama Desert -- the driest desert in the world -- spreads across the northern part of the country; Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) in the Atacama Desert is the highest active volcano in the world, Chile's tallest mountain, and the second highest in the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere -- its small crater lake (at 6,390 m) is the world's highest lake
" } }, "People and Society": { "Population": { "total": { "text": "18,664,652" }, "male": { "text": "9,169,736" }, "female": { "text": "9,494,916 (2024 est.)" } }, "Nationality": { "noun": { "text": "Chilean(s)" }, "adjective": { "text": "Chilean" } }, "Ethnic groups": { "text": "White and non-Indigenous 88.9%, Mapuche 9.1%, Aymara 0.7%, other Indigenous groups 1% (includes Rapa Nui, Likan Antai, Quechua, Colla, Diaguita, Kawesqar, Yagan or Yamana), unspecified 0.3% (2012 est.)" }, "Languages": { "Languages": { "text": "Spanish 99.5% (official), English 10.2%, Indigenous 1% (includes Mapudungun, Aymara, Quechua, Rapa Nui), other 2.3%, unspecified 0.2% (2012 est.)" }, "major-language sample(s)": { "text": "Chile is in the advanced stages of demographic transition and is becoming an aging society—with fertility below replacement level, low mortality rates, and life expectancy on par with developed countries. The share of older, those 65 and early, people may exceed 65% by 2065. Nevertheless, with its dependency ratio nearing its low point, Chile could benefit from its favorable age structure. It will need to keep its large working-age population productively employed, while preparing to provide for the needs of its growing proportion of elderly people, especially as women—the traditional caregivers—increasingly enter the workforce. Over the last two decades, Chile has made great strides in reducing its poverty rate, but income inequality remains persistent in large part because a lack of a lack of access to quality education.
Chile has been both a country of emigration and immigration. After becoming independent in 1810, Chile began seeking out immigrants from Europe to establish factories and to populate the southern part of the country. Following the two World Wars, fears of an influx of refugees prompted Chile to stop encouraging European immigration. However, Arab immigration increased between 1907 and 1940. During the Pinochet dictatorship that began in 1973, hundreds of thousands of Chileans emigrated, adding to the thousands who had left in the 1950s. At the same time, the repressiveness of the Pinochet regime discouraged the arrival of new immigrants. With the return of democracy and improving economic stability in 1990, some emigrants returned and new immigrants arrived from other South American countries experiencing deteriorating economic and political conditions. Immigration became more diverse starting in the 2010s, with the arrival of Haitians and Colombians of African descent. However, the largest group of recent immigrants are Venezuelans fleeing their country’s socio-economic and political crisis. As of 2020, almost one-third of Chile’s immigrant population are Venezuelan, while other top source countries continue to be Peru, Haiti, and Colombia. Nearly 1.5 million immigrants account for almost 9% of Chile’s total population, as of 2020.
" }, "Age structure": { "0-14 years": { "text": "19.2% (male 1,822,908/female 1,751,528)" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "67.3% (male 6,274,620/female 6,278,467)" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "13.6% (2024 est.) (male 1,072,208/female 1,464,921)" } }, "Dependency ratios": { "total dependency ratio": { "text": "45.2" }, "youth dependency ratio": { "text": "26.8" }, "elderly dependency ratio": { "text": "18.4" }, "potential support ratio": { "text": "5.4 (2021 est.)" } }, "Median age": { "total": { "text": "36.9 years (2024 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "35.8 years" }, "female": { "text": "38.2 years" } }, "Population growth rate": { "text": "0.61% (2024 est.)" }, "Birth rate": { "text": "12.4 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)" }, "Death rate": { "text": "6.6 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)" }, "Net migration rate": { "text": "0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)" }, "Population distribution": { "text": "90% of the population is located in the middle third of the country around the capital of Santiago; the far north (anchored by the Atacama Desert) and the extreme south are relatively underpopulated" }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "88% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "0.78% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Major urban areas - population": { "text": "6.903 million SANTIAGO (capital), 1.009 million Valparaiso, 912,000 Concepcion (2023)" }, "Sex ratio": { "at birth": { "text": "1.04 male(s)/female" }, "0-14 years": { "text": "1.04 male(s)/female" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "1 male(s)/female" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "0.73 male(s)/female" }, "total population": { "text": "0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)" } }, "Maternal mortality ratio": { "text": "15 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)" }, "Infant mortality rate": { "total": { "text": "6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "6.9 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "female": { "text": "5.7 deaths/1,000 live births" } }, "Life expectancy at birth": { "total population": { "text": "80.3 years (2024 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "77.3 years" }, "female": { "text": "83.3 years" } }, "Total fertility rate": { "text": "1.75 children born/woman (2024 est.)" }, "Gross reproduction rate": { "text": "0.85 (2024 est.)" }, "Contraceptive prevalence rate": { "text": "76.3% (2015/16)" }, "Drinking water source": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 100% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 100% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 100% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 0% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Current health expenditure": { "text": "9.8% of GDP (2020)" }, "Physician density": { "text": "2.84 physicians/1,000 population (2020)" }, "Hospital bed density": { "text": "2.1 beds/1,000 population (2018)" }, "Sanitation facility access": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 100% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 100% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 100% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 0% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 0% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Obesity - adult prevalence rate": { "text": "28% (2016)" }, "Alcohol consumption per capita": { "total": { "text": "7.8 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "beer": { "text": "2.76 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "wine": { "text": "2.61 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "spirits": { "text": "2.43 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "other alcohols": { "text": "0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" } }, "Tobacco use": { "total": { "text": "29.2% (2020 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "31.6% (2020 est.)" }, "female": { "text": "26.8% (2020 est.)" } }, "Children under the age of 5 years underweight": { "text": "0.5% (2014)" }, "Currently married women (ages 15-49)": { "text": "46.3% (2023 est.)" }, "Education expenditures": { "text": "5.6% of GDP (2019 est.)" }, "Literacy": { "definition": { "text": "age 15 and over can read and write" }, "total population": { "text": "97%" }, "male": { "text": "97.1%" }, "female": { "text": "97% (2021)" } }, "School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)": { "total": { "text": "17 years" }, "male": { "text": "16 years" }, "female": { "text": "17 years (2020)" } } }, "Environment": { "Environment - current issues": { "text": "air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; noise pollution; improper garbage disposal; soil degradation; widespread deforestation and mining threaten the environment; wildlife conservation" }, "Environment - international agreements": { "party to": { "text": "Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling" }, "signed, but not ratified": { "text": "none of the selected agreements" } }, "Climate": { "text": "temperate; desert in north; Mediterranean in central region; cool and damp in south" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "21.1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 1.7% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 18.8% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "21.9% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "57% (2018 est.)" } }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "88% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "0.78% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Revenue from forest resources": { "text": "0.49% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Revenue from coal": { "text": "0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Air pollutants": { "particulate matter emissions": { "text": "20.49 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)" }, "carbon dioxide emissions": { "text": "85.82 megatons (2016 est.)" }, "methane emissions": { "text": "15.97 megatons (2020 est.)" } }, "Waste and recycling": { "municipal solid waste generated annually": { "text": "6.517 million tons (2009 est.)" }, "municipal solid waste recycled annually": { "text": "24,113 tons (2009 est.)" }, "percent of municipal solid waste recycled": { "text": "0.4% (2009 est.)" } }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "fresh water lake(s)": { "text": "Lago General Carrera (shared with Argentina) - 2,240 sq km; Lago O'Higgins (shared with Argentina) - 1,010 sq km; Lago Llanquihue - 800 sq km; Lago Fagnano (shared with Argentina) - 590 sq km" } }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { "text": "1.29 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "industrial": { "text": "1.66 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "agricultural": { "text": "29.42 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { "text": "923.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "Geoparks": { "total global geoparks and regional networks": { "text": "1" }, "global geoparks and regional networks": { "text": "Kutralkura (2023)" } } }, "Government": { "Country name": { "conventional long form": { "text": "Republic of Chile" }, "conventional short form": { "text": "Chile" }, "local long form": { "text": "República de Chile" }, "local short form": { "text": "Chile" }, "etymology": { "text": "derivation of the name is unclear, but it may come from the Mapuche word \"chilli\" meaning \"limit of the earth\" or from the Quechua \"chiri\" meaning \"cold\"" } }, "Government type": { "text": "presidential republic" }, "Capital": { "name": { "text": "Santiago; note - Valparaiso is the seat of the national legislature" }, "geographic coordinates": { "text": "33 27 S, 70 40 W" }, "time difference": { "text": "UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)" }, "daylight saving time": { "text": "+1hr, begins second Sunday in August; ends second Sunday in May; note - Punta Arenas observes DST throughout the year" }, "time zone note": { "text": "Chile has three time zones: the continental portion at UTC-3; the southern Magallanes region, which does not use daylight savings time and remains at UTC-3 for the summer months; and Easter Island at UTC-5