Population : 17 million inhabitants
Area : 757,000 Km² divided in XII regions but 4 main geographical zones:
• The North with the Atacama Desert
• The central valleys with a Mediterranean climate
• The lakes district, the Mapuches Indians’ land, south of the capital
• Finally, the end of the Earth, Patagonia.
And of course, don’t forget the mythic Easter Island that belongs to the Chilean territory.
Geography : Chile is a country situated Southwest of South America, surrounded by Peru at North, Bolivia and Argentina at East, the Pacific Ocean at West and Antactic at South.
Capital : Santiago (7 million inhabitants)
Main cities : Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepción, Antofagasta
Official language : Spanish, but some people still speak Amerindian languages such as Mapudungún (or mapuche), Aymara and Rapa Nui (on Easter Island).
Government: Unitary Presidential Republic
The current President of the Republic is Sebastián Piñera, elected in January 2010.
Demographic datas:
Annual Demographic Growth Rate 2001-2015 : 1,1%
Life expectancy : 77,9 years old
Literacy rate: 95,7%
Religion (s) : 70 percent of the population over age 14 identified as Roman Catholic and 15.1 percent as evangelical.
HDI (2010): 0.783 (44th)
Economic datas:
GDP (PPP): $257.884 billion (2010)
Per capita: $15,002 (2010)
Growth rate: 5,2 % (2007)
Unemployment rate: 7,1 % (2007)
Inflation rate: 7,8 % (2007)
