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Chile land of la Cueca, adventure, the Atacama desert, great lakes, majestic glaciers, and of course great seafood

General Information about Chile

Capital city
Santiago :
Population
The total population is 14.2 million inhabitants; a third of whom (4.3 million) live in the capital, Santiago.
Chile is located in the western margin of South America, occupying a long and narrow territory with an extension of 4.200 km. from the North to the South, between the mountain chain of the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, and with an average width of only 250 km. Chilean territory includes Easter Island, located 3.000 km. away from the coast, the archipelago of Juan Fernandez and numerous small islands to the south of the country, in addition to 1.200.000 Km2 in the Antarctic Continent, where four scientific investigation bases are established.
Geography & Climate
Chile has an incredible variety of climates and landscapes: high mountainous summits, volcanoes, rivers, deep canyons, deserts, fiords, glaciers, lakes and beaches.

In Chile it is possible to find all the climates of the world: in the North, an area of some 1.500 km., is found the driest desert of the world, where the highest summits of the Andes are also found, some of them up to 6.800 mts. The low rain and snowfall only occurs in the high summits, whose waters descend to the cities and populations of the coast.

South of La Serena the first signs of vegetation begin to appear, in spite that only rains 2 or 3 times per year. In this zone large transverse mountainous chains have developed forming different valleys, which allows the concentration of cities, as well as the development of agriculture.

South of the Aconcagua River the "great central valley" unfolds, extending 1.200 km. As far as Puerto Montt. This is the most fertile zone, inhabited by nearly 80% of the population. To the south the rains increase rapidly, and large rivers, lakes and forests begin to appear.

South of Puerto Montt, the territory changes abruptly. Thousands of islands, channels, fiords, mountains, glaciers, huge rivers and virgin forests begin to appear. In the extreme South lies the immense steppe known as "patagonica", which extends into Argentine territory.
Currency
The unit of currency is the “peso” (Ch$). Coins are in denominations of $1, $5, $10, $50 and $100. Bank notes are in denominations of $500, $1000,, $2000, $5000, $10000 and $20000.

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