Chile's relief is for the most part mountainous, with the Andes range dominating the landscape. Because of the country's extreme length it has a wide variety of climates, from the coastal desert beginning in the tropical north to the cold subantarctic southern tip. Chile is also a land of extreme natural events: volcanic eruptions, violent earthquakes, and tsunamis originating along major faults of the ocean floor periodically beset the country. Fierce winter storms and flash floods alternate with severe summer droughts.

Much of northern Chile is desert; the central part of the country is a temperate region where the bulk of the population lives and where the larger cities, including Santiago, are located. South-central Chile, with a lake and forest region, is temperate, humid, and suitable for grain cultivation; and the southernmost third of the country, cut by deep fjords, is an inhospitable region—cold, wet, windy, and limited in resources. The economy of Chile is based on primary economic activities: agricultural production; copper, iron, and nitrate mining; and the exploitation of sea resources.

Chile exhibits many of the traits that typically characterize Latin American countries. It was colonized by Spain, and the culture that evolved was largely Spanish; the influence of the original Indian inhabitants is negligible. The people became largely mestizo, a blend of Spanish and Indian bloodlines. The society developed with a small elite controlling most of the land, the wealth, and the political life.

Chile did not, however, depend as heavily on agriculture and mining as did many Latin American countries, but rather developed an economy based on manufacturing as well. Thus, Chile has become one of the more urbanized Latin American societies, with a burgeoning middle class. Chile has also had a history of retaining representative democratic government. Except for a military junta that held power from September 1973 to March 1990, the country has been relatively free of the coups and constitutional suspensions common to many of its neighbours.

Extending almost the length of the country, the Chilean Andes, which form most of the border with Argentina, include the highest segment of the Andes mountain chain, which acts as both a physical and a human divide. The Chilean Andean system consists of lofty, often snow-capped mountains, deeply incised valleys, and steep slopes.

The formation of the western Andes ranges began during the Jurassic Period, some 190,000,000 years ago. Marine and terrestrial sediments that had accumulated in the Andean geosyncline were folded and lifted as the Pacific Plate was overridden by the South American Plate. In the early Tertiary Period (beginning 65,000,000 years ago) active volcanism and the injection of effusive rocks laid down the paleovolcanic materials (rhyolites and dacites) that contain the rich copper, iron, silver, molybdenum, and manganese ores of Chile. Also of Tertiary origin are the coal deposits of central Chile.

Later in the Tertiary Period the uplift of the Andes continued, accompanied by further outbursts of volcanism. This active tectonism led to the separation of the Andes from the older coastal ranges and the formation of the intermediate depression. At the beginning of the Quaternary Period the Andes had reached a higher elevation than at present. During the global cooling that occurred some 2,500,000 years ago, the higher summits were covered by ice masses whose glacier tongues descended into the intermediate depression. Rich sediments were washed down the glacial valleys and deposited into the longitudinal depression. The numerous lakes in the Lake District of south-central Chile are remnants of the ice melting that began some 17,000 years ago. Since the advent of the Holocene Epoch (beginning 10,000 years ago) the Chilean Andes have not changed significantly, but they still experience uplift and episodic volcanic eruptions.

The Andes of northern Chile to latitude 27° S are wide and arid, with heights generally between 16,500 and 19,500 feet (5,000 and 6,000 metres). Most of the higher summits are extinct volcanoes, such as the Llullaillaco, 22,109 feet; Licancábur, 19,409 feet; and Ojos del Salado, 22,614 feet. After the last glaciation the melting waters collected in shallow lakes in the intermediate elevated basins. Today these salt lake basins (salares), the most noted of which is the Atacama Salt Flat, are evaporating to the point of disappearing. Farther south the mountains decrease somewhat in height, but in central Chile, between latitudes 32° and 34°30′ S, they heighten again, with peaks reaching 21,555 feet at Mount Tupungato and 17,270 feet at Maipo Volcano. All of these summits are capped by eternal snow that feeds the numerous rivers of central Chile. Winter sports are pursued in the Andes near Santiago.

Most of the highest mountains between 34°30′ and 42° S are volcanoes, ranging between 8,700 and 11,500 feet. Some of them are extinct while others are still active. Among them are Copahue, Llaima, Osorno, and the highest, Mount Tronador, at an elevation of 11,453 feet. Their perfect conical shapes reflecting on the quiet waters in the Lake District provide some of the most splendid scenery in temperate South America. In southern Chile, below latitude 42° S, the Andes lose elevation and their summits become more separated as a consequence of the Quaternary glacial erosion.

The intermediate depression between the Andes and the coastal ranges is mostly flanked by fault lines. A natural receptacle for materials coming from the Andes, the depression has been filled by alluvial, fluvioglacial, or moraine sediments, depending on the region. In northern Chile it appears as a plateau with elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 feet. Saline sediments that washed down during the Tertiary and Quaternary periods created the rich nitrate deposits found in the Tamarugal Plain and Carmen Salt Flat, where the once-bustling mining towns of María Elena, Pedro de Valdivia, and Baquedano are located. In north-central Chile, extending southward out of the desert region, the depression is interrupted by east–west mountain spurs that create fertile transverse valleys. The Aconcagua River Valley, a transverse valley farther south, marks the beginning of central Chile.

The alluvial deposits from the numerous Andean rivers in central Chile have provided mineral-rich soils that support the flourishing Mediterranean-type agriculture of the Central Valley of the intermediate depression. These soils and abundant water resources, along with a temperate climate, make the Central Valley the most populated and productive area in Chile. In south-central Chile the intermediate depression is formed by mixtures of fluvial and alluvial depositions, making this region suitable for growing grain and for pastures that support an important dairy industry.

South of the Bío-Bío River dense forests replace open scrub woodland moraines and lakes are common, and the intermediate depression descends to sea level at Puerto Montt. In the extreme south only the Andes and the summits of the coastal ranges are visible because the intermediate depression submerges or is replaced by intracoastal channels and fjords.

In most of northern and central Chile coastal ranges form a ridge between the intermediate depression and the Pacific coast. These mountains, which are seldom higher than 6,500 feet, display smooth forms or flattened summits, since they are considerably older than the Andes. In north-central and central Chile the coastal ranges are built of Paleozoic and Mesozoic granites and metamorphic rocks that were uplifted during the Andean folding phase. In south-central and southern Chile the coastal ranges consist of early Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks, which is evidence of an even earlier folding phase. The coastal ranges were never glaciated, and their former dense vegetation has been destroyed by humans. In places where intensive agriculture has been practiced, the soil is severely eroded and has been depleted of organic and mineral nutrients. Only in the evergreen forests in the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta south of Concepción and the coastal ranges south of Valdivia are the soils well preserved.

On the western margins of the coastal ranges, sea advances during the Tertiary Period deposited thick sediments. During the Quaternary Period sea level changes and continued continental uplift created several coastal terraces in the Tertiary layers, and wave erosion shaped Chile's abrupt coastal line, which has few good natural harbours.

Most of Chile's rivers originate in the Andes and flow westward to the Pacific Ocean, draining the intermediate depression and the coastal ranges. They are therefore quite short. While their steep gradients and turbulent flow make them unsuitable for navigation—the lower courses of the south-central rivers are an exception—they are particularly useful for hydroelectric power. In areas where water flow is subjected to seasonal variations that hamper agricultural development, dams have been built in order to regulate the rivers and to establish hydroelectric plants.

The rivers of Chile have differing physical characteristics that are related to the climatic region in which they are located. In the parched northern region they are fed by the summer rains that fall on the Chilean-Bolivian Altiplano; their volumes are so small that they are either absorbed by the soil or evaporate before reaching the sea. Only the Loa River, the longest Chilean river at some 275 miles, empties into the Pacific Ocean.

The rivers of central Chile have more regular flows and volumes. During the winter months (May–August) they are fed by heavy frontal rains, resulting in frequent flooding of the riverine communities. In late spring (October–November) the rivers receive the runoff from the snow that has accumulated during the winter in the high Andes. This runoff proves quite beneficial for commercial and subsistence crop irrigation. In south-central Chile south of the Bío-Bío River, the steady flow is maintained by constant rains, although there is a slack in discharge during the summer months (December–March). In Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego intense year-round rains and snowstorms combine to keep the rivers well fed, but their extremely steep drainage into the Pacific renders them totally unusable for commercial purposes.

The geologic variety and diverse origin of surface sediments cause the soils of Chile to vary greatly in character from north to south. In the northern desert region saline soils, made up of gravel and sand cemented with calcium sulfate, alternate with alkali-rich soils, which are difficult to cultivate even with irrigation because of their surface salt accumulations. In river oases salinity also becomes a limiting factor for agriculture. In the transverse valleys of north-central Chile fertile alluvial (alluvium) soils have developed on fluvial deposits, while between the rivers soils are dry and infertile. Within the Central Valley the alluvial soils have developed over fluviovolcanic deposits, which is the reason for their mineral and organic richness. In areas of widespread recent volcanic activity, andosol soils (nutrient-rich soils that develop over volcanic ash) are common. Under good aeration these soils of the Central Valley have excellent agricultural potential, but if the volcanic soils are too permeable, they can be used only for coniferous plantations. In the Lake District the extreme impermeability of the soils leads to the formation of humid soils (trumaos). In the southernmost Andes, under conditions of permanent rainfall and cold temperatures, lithosols covered by a thin layer of andosols are the rule: only rain forests grow on such soils. On the archipelagos of Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego the low terrain is carpeted by moorland soils that support only low shrubs and bog plants of no economic value or potential. Soils at high elevation are characterized by rankers (thin organic soils overlying a rocky substratum) supporting growths of Antarctic beeches.

The extension of Chile across some 38 degrees of latitude encompasses nearly all climates, with the exception of the humid tropics. The Pacific Ocean, the cold Peru (Peru Current) (Humboldt) Current, the South Pacific anticyclone winds, and the Andes Mountains constitute the major climatic controls.

The permanent chilling effect of the Peru Current and the constantly blowing southwesterlies emanating from the South Pacific anticyclone determine a temperate climate for most of northern and central Chile. Only the extreme south, unaffected by these controls, is characterized by a cold and humid climate. Temperatures drop in a regular pattern from north to south; the principal cities average the following annual mean temperatures: Arica 64 °F (18 °C), Antofagasta 61 °F (16 °C), Santiago 57 °F (14 °C), Puerto Montt 52 °F (11 °C), and Punta Arenas 43 °F (6 °C). During winter, when the polar front advances northward, temperatures drop, though not drastically, owing to the temperate action of the ocean. If snow falls in central Chile, it does not stay on the ground for more than a few hours. During summer, cooling sea winds keep temperatures down and there are no heat waves. The highest monthly means register in the northern desert.

Annual precipitation differs remarkably from the dry extreme north to the very humid extreme south. North of 27° S latitude there is practically no rainfall. In the north-central region frontal rains in winter account for increasing precipitation: the annual rainfall in Copiapó is less than one inch (21 mm). In Santiago the annual rainfall is 13 inches, and along the Central Valley it increases gradually southward until it reaches 73 inches in Puerto Montt, where precipitation occurs throughout the year. The coast of central and south-central Chile is more humid than the Central Valley. In Valparaíso annual precipitation amounts to 15 inches, rising to 52 inches in Concepción and reaching about 90 inches in Valdivia. Farther south, where the westerlies reach their maximum intensity and the polar front is always present, precipitation highs unequaled by any other nontropical region in the world have been recorded; there, San Pedro Point, at latitude 48° S, receives about 160 inches annually. Still farther south, in the rain shadow that occurs on the eastern slopes of the southern Andes, precipitation diminishes drastically, occurring mostly as snow during winter. Punta Arenas, in Chilean Patagonia, receives only 18 inches annually.

Considering all climatic factors and meteorological characteristics, three large climatic regions may be distinguished in Chile: the northern desert, the central Mediterranean zone, and the humid-cool southern region.

The climate of central Chile is characteristic of mid-latitudinal temperate areas. The seasons are well accentuated. Winters are cool and humid as a consequence of continuous passages of fronts and depressions; cloudy days are common. In spring, when there are fewer fronts and the depressions vanish, steady southwest winds and clear skies dominate. During summer, when anticyclonic conditions are established, the days are warm, though not stifling, and without rain. These weather conditions are ideal for the Mediterranean agricultural products that grow so well in central Chile, such as grapes, peaches, plums, honeydew melons, and apricots. Autumn is still sunny and dry, suitable for the ripening of grains, mainly wheat, and vegetables. With the onset of winter, the fronts and depressions return and the accompanying rains last from May to August.

The southern segments of Chile are always under the influence of the polar front and of cyclonic depressions. In addition, the permanently blowing westerlies batter the margins of the continent with oceanic air masses that lower temperatures and cause heavy rainfall along the Pacific coast. Around Cape Horn the westerlies reach their maximum intensity and storms abound. Before the era of steam power, the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific via Cape Horn was a most feared venture.

The vegetation of Chile, like the climate and soils, is arranged in latitudinal belts. Only in the Andes is altitude a determining factor. In the northern desert region the vegetation has adapted to the lack of rain and to the salinity of the soils. The tamarugo, a spiny acacia tree, does well in the dry interior desert. Near the coast, and kept alive by the coastal fogs, varieties of cacti as well as shrubs and spiny brambles occur. In the high plateaus of northern Chile hardy species, such as llareta, and grasses, such as ichu and tola, support the Indian population and their llama herds. In semiarid north-central Chile some of the cacti continue, and hardwoods, such as the espino or algarrobo, and shrubs, such as Adesmia, become more common. In the more humid and temperate region of central Chile grows a particular vegetal formation called matorral, in which hardwoods, shrubs, cacti, and green grass are mixed. Most of this dense growth is disappearing because of the rural population's overexploitation of it for firewood. South of the Bío-Bío River, mixed deciduous forest and evergreen trees are common. Many unique species are found in these humid forests, the most conspicuous being the rauli, or southern cedar, the roble beech, the ulmo (an evergreen shrub), and the evergreen laurel. On the western slopes of the Andes the magnificent monkey puzzle tree, or Chile pine, forms dense stands. A dense rain forest, rich in timber species, grows in the humid Lake District and extends southward. The Antarctic beech, the Chilean cedar, and the giant alerce dominate these often impenetrable southern woods. On the rainy islands of Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, the growth of large trees is inhibited by the constant winds and low temperatures. There, only dwarf versions of southern beech and hard grasses are found. In eastern Chilean Patagonia the cold steppes are primarily composed of grasses and herbs that provide grazing for livestock.

The animal life of Chile lacks the diversity of other countries in South America. The barrier of the Andes has restricted animal migrations, and the northern desert has proved a formidable obstacle to the southward migration of tropical Andean fauna. Among the terrestrial animals, the most abundant and varied are the rodents. The chinchilla, the degu, and the mountain viscacha are Andean rodents famed for their fine furs. Monito de monte, a marsupial, lives in the deciduous forests and rain forests of the south. The nutria, or coypu (coipo) is a water rodent common in the streams of Chile. Among the ruminants are the guanaco, the only survivor of the Paleocamelides (ancient predecessors of the camel family), and its domesticated relatives, the llama, the alpaca, and the vicuña, the latter known for the high-quality wool produced from its silky fleece; the Indians of the Altiplano make wide use of it. Guanacos are still found from northern Chile to Chilean Patagonia. Two members of the deer family are the huemul, a rarely seen inhabitant of the southern Andes that is represented on the national coat of arms, and the pudu, the smallest known deer. Carnivores are not in great abundance. The puma is the largest, and other feline predators include the guiña and the colocolo. Among the canids are the Andean wolf and the long-tailed fox. The avian fauna is relatively more diverse, the country being host to wintering migratory birds. Some exotic birds like parrots and flamingos appear over northern and central Chile. Throughout the Chilean Andes there still lives, though reduced in number, the condor, a large scavenger. In Chilean Patagonia is found the carancha, a bird of prey that attacks lambs. Amphibians abound, the most curious being Darwin's frog, discovered by Charles Darwin in south-central Chile. Chile's geographic isolation accounts for the absence of poisonous reptiles and spiders.

Climatic characteristics and historic events have strongly influenced settlement patterns and population distribution in Chile. The early settlement by Spaniards occurred in the temperate part of the country, known as the Central Nucleus, or Zona Central, where the agriculture, industry, and main population centres developed. The area's traditional agriculture developed on the basis of large landed estates, the haciendas, which covered about three-fourths of Chile's arable land. The agrarian reform initiated by the Christian Democratic president Eduardo Frei Montalva in 1965, and continued by the Socialist president Salvador Allende Gossens into the early 1970s, resulted in a redistribution of the land. Agrarian productivity to boost exports was accentuated.

In the Central Nucleus are the major cities of Chile. Santiago was founded there and grew into the country's major metropolis. Seventy miles west of Santiago is the port city of Valparaíso and the neighbouring resort city of Viña del Mar, which form the second largest population centre of Chile. In the Central Valley, south of the Santiago basin, stretches a series of secondary cities, the development of which has been tied to the agricultural success of central Chile. Among them are Rancagua, Curicó, Talca, Chillán, and Los Angeles. All of these cities are connected by rail and the Pan-American Highway.

Most of Chile's cities were founded during the colonial era, and they were arranged around a central square (plaza de armas). The original buildings were made of adobe (sun-dried brick) and wood, materials that would deteriorate or burn. Most of the colonial buildings fell prey to earthquakes and fires; much rebuilding took place and the cities of central Chile have become showcases of modern urbanization, high population density, and bustling commercial and industrial activities. On the coast of the southern Central Nucleus lies Concepción and its port city of Talcahuano, both industrial centres.

Norte Chico, the semiarid north-central part of Chile, developed in close association with the Central Nucleus. Agricultural production and mining characterize this region, of which La Serena, near the coast, and the port of Coquimbo are the major centres. The population is primarily concentrated in the irrigated valleys of the Copiapó, Huasco, Elqui, and Limarí rivers or else dispersed in the mountains, where there are mining activities. The main cities, somewhat smaller than those of central Chile, are located in the valleys: they include Copiapó, in the valley of that name, the most important mining centre of the country during the 19th century; Vallenar, Ovalle, and Vicuña. Agriculture, goat raising, and iron and copper mining are the main economic activities. From this region come the famous pisco (a white brandy distilled from sun-dried grapes), fine wines, and high-quality fruits for export.

During colonial times, the fringe of territory at the southern extreme of the Central Nucleus was bitterly contested by Spaniards and Araucanians (Araucanian), the original Indian population, which gave the northern part of south-central Chile its name, La Frontera (“The Border”). After the pacification of the Araucanians in the 1880s, the area was gradually settled by Chileans and by European colonists who had already begun immigrating there in the 1850s. It developed in modern times as a region of grain growing and commercial pine forestry for cellulose manufacture. The regional capital is Temuco, and in the surrounding countryside still live—in rather precarious conditions—a concentration of Araucanians, locally called Mapuche.

Colonization of the Lake District, located south of La Frontera, began after 1850 with immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. Homesteads, rather than large haciendas as in the Central Nucleus, became the pattern of rural settlement. Although the land has been consolidated in recent times, land fragmentation is still visible. The largest city of this region is Valdivia, founded in early colonial times. This once active industrial centre for footwear, textiles, brewing, and shipbuilding declined after most of its manufacturing installations were destroyed by a 1960 earthquake. Osorno and Puerto Montt are other regional centres, specializing in dairy and flour production. The scenic piedmont lakes and the snow-capped volcanoes attract a steady flow of tourists.

The extreme north and the extreme south could be considered the population and resource frontiers. Both are sparsely populated and rich in natural resources. Settlement of the arid Norte Grande in northernmost Chile began in the middle of the 19th century in response to the exploitation of minerals in the interior. A string of coastal cities emerged as export centres for nitrates, borax, and copper. Iquique, once an exporter of nitrates, has become the capital of Chile's fish meal industry. Antofagasta, the railroad terminus to Oruro, Bolivia, is an active administrative and trading centre and an export facility for the Chuquicamata copper mine. Arica, which acts as a port for Bolivia at the end of the railroad to La Paz, supports fish meal plants and oversees the agricultural production of the Azapa Valley. Once the automobile assembly centre of Chile, Arica has lost its prominence as an industrial city. The only city of significance in the interior of the Norte Grande is Calama, adjacent to the Chuquicamata copper mine, the world's largest open-pit mine. Still, the rest of the area remains picturesque. Old Indian towns, scattered oases, and spectacular desert scenery attract tourists. At the Shrine of La Tirana, on the Tamarugal Plain, Indian and mestizo pilgrims from northern Chile, Bolivia, and southern Peru gather for a colourful festival each July.

The extreme south encompasses three natural units: the Chiloé Island group, the Channels region, and Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Chiloé and its neighbouring islands are among the most undeveloped regions of the country; rudimentary agriculture and algae (used in making confectionary products) and shellfish gathering are the main activities. The small towns of Castro and Ancud are the main population centres of the mostly rural habitat. The Channels region is characterized by islands, separated by glacially carved channels, where colonization has been unsuccessfully attempted since the 1920s. Outlying towns such Puerto Aisén and Coihaique are the only population centres. The region of Magallanes, hinged on the Strait of Magellan, is the most developed area of Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Sheep raising estancias (ranches), which have exported wool since the late 19th century, and oil and natural gas, which have been exploited since 1945, are the pillars of its economy. These activities, combined with meat-packing plants and the trading functions of Punta Arenas, have made this one of the more modernized parts of Chile.

The Chileans (Chile) are ethnically a mixture of Europeans and Indians. The first miscegenation occurred during the 16th and 17th centuries between the indigenous tribes, including the Atacameños, Diaguitas, Picunches, Araucanians (Mapuches), Huilliches, Pehuenches, and Cuncos, and the conquistadores from Spain. Basque families who migrated to Chile in the 18th century vitalized the economy and joined the old Castilian aristocracy to become the political elite that still dominates the country. Few Africans were brought to Chile as slaves during colonial times because a tropical plantation economy, common in much of the New World, did not develop.

After independence and during the republican era, English, Italian, and French merchants established themselves in the growing cities of Chile and incidentally joined the political or economic elites of the country. The official encouragement of German and Swiss colonization in the Lake District during the second half of the 19th century was exceptional. The censuses of the late 19th century showed that foreigners—principally Spaniards, Argentines, French, Germans, and Italians—formed scarcely more than 1 percent of the total population. At the turn of the century, small numbers of displaced eastern European Jews and Christian Syrians and Palestinians fleeing the Ottoman Empire arrived in Chile. Today they spearhead financial and small manufacturing operations.

The population displays a strong sense of cultural identity, which can be traced to the predominance of the Spanish language, the Roman Catholic religion, and the comparative isolation of Chile from the rest of South America. The Araucanian Indians form the only significant ethnic minority.

The trend of age-group distribution, with increasingly larger numbers in the older brackets, reflects a progressive maturing of the Chilean population. Life expectancy rose from 57 years in 1960 to about 70 years by the early 1980s; at the beginning of the 21st century, it had reached the late 70s. These demographic changes reflect both improved health care conditions and modernization of the lifestyle by the predominantly urban population. Also ascribed to the same factors is the dramatic decline during the late 20th century in infant mortality and in the fertility rate. Chile's crude death rate is lower than that of most of its South American neighbours.

The large cities and the industrial centres of central Chile attract a steady flow of internal migrants. Most of them head for the capital city of Santiago, with the rest going primarily to Valparaíso–Viña del Mar and to Concepción–Talcahuano. These migrants emanate mostly out of the rural regions of the Central Valley and north-central Chile. The northern coastal cities receive some migrants from Santiago and Valparaíso and also from the small villages in the far north. Chiloé has been losing its population to Punta Arenas and the agrarian areas of the Lake District, and even to Argentina, where Chilotes work on estancias or in the mines of Patagonia. After 1973, hundreds of thousands of Chileans left the country for political reasons to live in exile (exile and banishment). Initially, the military government of strongman Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (Pinochet, Augusto) prohibited the exiles' return, but growing protests in the 1980s resulted in a gradual easing of these restrictions: first, lists were published of those who would be permitted to return, and then, lists of those who were prohibited from returning. By the early 1990s, not only were restrictions lifted but the return of exiles was facilitated.

The Chilean economy is based on the exploitation of agricultural, fishing, forest, and mining resources. Chile developed historically on the basis of a few agricultural and mineral exports, as was common in Latin America. Many manufactured products had to be imported, and land, wealth, and power were concentrated in the hands of a small aristocracy. Although there were land reforms and development of manufacturing, many of Chile's economic problems in the 20th century were related to the country's early economic structure.

During the 19th century the Chilean economy grew on the basis of exported agricultural products, copper, and nitrates. After the nitrate market dropped during World War I, Chile's economy took a sharp downturn, intensifying the effect on the country of the Great Depression. These events turned Chile toward more socialistic programs that featured strong government control of the economy. An attempt was made to develop import substitution industries so as to lessen dependence on imported products. Industrial growth was placed in the hands of the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (Corfo; the Development Corporation). Agrarian reforms were instituted, and the government assumed greater control of industry, especially during the administrations of Pedro Aquirre Cerda (1938–41) and Salvador Allende Gossens (1970–73), when many banks, copper mines, and business firms were nationalized. The economy at first improved under these policies, inflation going down and the gross domestic product increasing. The government, however, was unable to establish a sound tax base to match the expanding economy; by 1973 conditions were deteriorating rapidly and a military coup overthrew the government. The new regime instituted more conservative, free-market programs and reversed many of the previous governments' acts. The country faced severe economic problems, reflected in periodic high inflation, fluctuating trade policies, unemployment, and heavy dependence on a single major export, copper, in an unstable market. The development of a broader export economy improved economic growth and reduced inflation in Chile by the 1990s. The country also entered into many bilateral and regional trade agreements, which further increased direct foreign investment in Chilean industry. By the early 21st century, Chile had one of the most successful economies in South America.

A geographically varied country, Chile is rich in mineral deposits, natural forests, sea resources, and energy sources.

Mining, historically the mainstay of the Chilean economy, has been a catalyst for both external commerce and domestic industrial development. Copper, molybdenum, iron, nitrates, and other concentrated minerals make up a large part of the total value of national exports.

Copper plays the role in the Chilean economy that was occupied by nitrates prior to World War I. The large U.S. corporations were tranformed into mixed-ownership enterprises during the late 1960s and totally nationalized during the early 1970s, when mining and sales were turned over to the Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco). A drop in world market prices influenced production and sales and created financial hardship. During the 1990s the government enacted new laws to open up the industry to private companies, but the majority of copper mines in Chile are still controlled by the state (Codelco). By the early 21st century, demand for copper had risen, and copper accounted for about two-fifths of export income.

Iron-ore mining in El Tofo and El Romeral, both in north-central Chile, is significant, and manganese, silver and gold, and molybdenum (a metal derived from the large copper deposits) are also mined. Among nonmetallic minerals, sulfur, gypsum, lithium, and limestone are moderately exploited. Nitrate deposits occur in the northern interior desert. Their economic value, so important during the 19th century, has decreased, but the production of iodine, a by-product of nitrate, is of major importance.

South of the Bío-Bío river, climatic conditions favour the growth of natural forests. The primary species used for lumber and paneling are the coigue, oak, rauli, ulmo, tepa (laurel tree), and monkey puzzle tree. Pine for the manufacture of paper and pulp is taken from forests in central Chile and the Bío-Bío region.

Since 1974, after the collapse of the Peruvian fishing industry, Chile has become the chief fishery of South America, and it is one of the foremost fishing countries of the world. Sardines, jack mackerel, chub mackerel, hake, and anchovy constitute most of the catch. The principal products are fish meal and fish oil, which are shipped to Europe and the United States for the production of animal feed and industrial oil. The fish-processing plants—all privately owned—are mainly located in the northern cities of Iquique, Arica, and Antofagasta.

While good climatic conditions and abundant water resources favour Chile's agriculture, outdated land-tenure patterns, managerial ineptitude, and inadequate price policies have combined to make agriculture one of the most inefficient sectors of the economy. Employing approximately one-sixth of the labour force, agriculture generates less than one-tenth of the gross domestic product. To meet expenditures and credit payments abroad, the military government that took over in 1973 strongly encouraged exports of agricultural commodities by private national and international companies. Within the framework of this policy, Chile increased remarkably the export of fresh fruit, canned vegetables, and wines.

In temperate central Chile the primary crops are cereals (chiefly wheat), followed by grapes, potatoes, corn (maize), apples, beans, rice, and a variety of vegetables. Industrial crops, such as sugar beets and sunflower seeds for cooking oil, are also common.

Stock raising has been one of the most underdeveloped activities in rural areas, partly because of poor technology and inefficient breeding. Cattle are the major livestock. There has been, however, some expansion in poultry, lamb, and pork production, as well as that of beef.

An estimated one-seventh of the economically active population is employed in manufacturing, which accounts for about one-sixth of the gross domestic product. Factories are concentrated in the principal urban centres—Santiago, Valparaíso, and Concepción. Light industries produce appliances, chemical products, food products, textiles and clothing, and construction materials.

Larger industrial complexes are located at the San Vicente harbour of Concepción; they include the Huachipato iron and steel mill, fish-processing factories, and a petroleum refinery associated with a petrochemical complex. Another such refinery is situated in Concón, at the mouth of the Aconcagua River. Pulp and paper mills thrive in the vicinities of the Bío-Bío and Laja rivers.

Chile's principal markets for mining and agricultural commodities are the European Union, the United States, and Asia. Most imports are from Argentina, the United States, Brazil, China, and Germany. The balance of payments, generally unfavourable since the 1950s because of increased foreign expenditures and payment of external loans, showed occasional improvement after 1976 but with considerable fluctuation. In the early 2000s Chile signed many free-trade agreements, including one with the United States that was implemented in 2004. Nontraditional exports (seafood, fruit, wine, wood products, foodstuffs) also contributed to economic growth in the early 21st century.

The peso is the national currency of Chile. The Central Bank of Chile, established in 1925, is the official bank of the country; it implements the internal banking policies of the government and also conducts foreign trade. In 1989 the bank became an autonomous institution entirely responsible for the country's financial and exchange-rate policies. The State Bank of Chile is also a state entity, but it functions as a private commercial bank. National private banks as well as international banks from Europe, the United States, and Asia operate freely in the country.

Within the Chilean economic system there is collaboration between the private and public sectors, with the private sector contributing an increasing percentage of the total annual investment. Private businesses are generally organized as joint-stock companies (similar to U.S. corporations) that participate in all areas of economic activity.

The country's length and physical barriers constrain communication and traffic flow. Only the sea offers an expeditious means of transportation, which was taken advantage of during the 19th century when Chile owned one of the largest merchant fleets in Latin America. Chile's overall economic decline during the early 20th century and the supplanting of maritime transport with overland means resulted in the reduction of the fleet. Eventually only international transport was conducted by ship. The main port of entry is Valparaíso. San Antonio, the port for Santiago, exports copper and agricultural commodities. Other ports, such as Antofagasta and Arica, serve the trade with Bolivia. Chañaral, Huasco, Guayacán, and Tocopilla export minerals. The port of Talcahuano serves the industrial complex of Concepción.

The development of an overland transportation system began with two railway systems initiated about the turn of the 20th century: the northern network, between La Calera (near Valparaíso) and Iquique, now in disuse, and the southern network, between La Calera and Puerto Montt. The most traveled sections connect Santiago with Valparaíso and Santiago with Puerto Montt; both sections are electrified, making them more competitive with road transportation. The railway system is controlled by the Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (State Railway Enterprise). International railroads connect Arica and La Paz (Bolivia), Antofagasta and Oruro (Bolivia), and Los Andes and Mendoza (Argentina). A railbus transports passengers over the short route between Arica and Tacna (Peru).

Chile's rapid motorization has brought enhanced highway transportation for passengers and goods. The backbone of the Chilean road system is the paved Pan-American Highway, which connects Arica with Puerto Montt, near Chiloé Island, a distance of more than 2,100 miles. From this main artery secondary routes connect numerous cities, including Santiago, with the ports of San Antonio and Valparaíso, Bulnes with Concepción, and Los Lagos with Valdivia. The most important international paved road connects Santiago with Mendoza (Argentina). All-weather roads connect Iquique with Oruro (Bolivia), Antofagasta with Salta (Argentina), La Serena with San Juan (Argentina), Osorno with San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina), and Punta Arenas with Río Gallegos (Argentina).

Air transport serves mostly the cities at both extremes of the country and some towns of difficult access, such as El Salvador and Coihayque. The main airline is Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (LAN; National Airline of Chile). A tourist service is maintained by LAN between Santiago and Easter Island, in the Pacific, with the flight continuing to Papeete, Tahiti. All major South American lines, plus others from the United States and Europe, handle the flow of international passengers to the Arturo Merino Benítez airport near Santiago. Chacalluta, northeast of Arica, is another major airport.

The bicameral National Congress was dissolved at the time of the 1973 coup, after which legislative functions were carried on by the junta, assisted by legislative commissions. The 1981 constitution allows for a bicameral legislature consisting of an upper chamber, or Senado, and a lower chamber of representatives, or Cámara de Diputados, to be elected by direct popular vote. These two bodies remained in recess until the elections of December 1989.

The justices and prosecutors of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals are appointed by the president from a list of nominees proposed by the Supreme Court. Judges are career functionaries of the Ministry of Justice. The composition of the lower courts is similarly determined.

Local government is carried on through 14 administrative regions and the capital, Santiago. The regions are divided into provinces, which in turn are divided into communes. The president appoints the intendents (intendentes) who head the administrations of the regions and Santiago. The intendents govern with the aid of a regional council, which may include the governors of the constituent provinces and representatives of various other private and public institutions within the region. The provincial governors, like the intendents, serve at the sole pleasure of the president. The communes are administered by a municipal corporation (municipalidad) composed of a mayor (alcalde) and a communal council. The mayor is appointed by the regional council from a list of three candidates submitted by the communal council; in the case of some larger urban centres, the mayor is appointed directly by the president. The councilmen (regidores) are elected by popular vote for four-year terms.

Chile's traditional political spectrum extended from the extreme right to the extreme left. In the September 1973 coup, however, the junta outlawed Marxist political parties and suspended all activity by traditional parties (with the intention of an eventual return to a competitive party system). New opposition movements formed during Pinochet's rule, but his government repressed them. By the late 1980s a group of centre and centre-left parties united as the Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática; AD) to actively oppose the regime and promote democracy. Following Pinochet's defeat in a 1988 plebiscite that formally ended his power, this group was renamed the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertación de los Partidos por la Democracia; CPD). Negotiations between the CPD and Pinochet's government in 1989 resulted in the removal of the ban on Marxist parties, just one of the amendments to the 1981 constitution that was voted on in a national referendum. Parties under the CPD umbrella include the Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano; PDC), one of Chile's strongest parties; the Social Democratic Radical Party (Partido Radical Social Demócrata; PRSD), which was formerly known as the Radical Party (the centrist PRSD drifted to the left after 1965, was repressed in 1973, but made a comeback in the mid-1990s under its new name); the Socialist Party of Chile (Partido Socialista de Chile; PS); and the Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia; PPD). The Communist Party of Chile (Partido Comunista de Chile; PCC), which was condemned under Pinochet's rule, was reinstated by 1990. The centre-right Alliance for Chile (Alianza por Chile; AC) consists of the National Renovation (Renovación Nacional; RN) and the Independent Democratic Union (Unión Demócrata Independiente; UDI). There are also parties in Chile representing the Mapuche people and other social and environmental interests.

Chile's educational system, structured along the lines of 19th-century French and German models and highly regarded among Latin American countries, is divided into eight years of free and compulsory basic (primary) education, four years of optional secondary or vocational education, and additional (varying) years of higher education. More than nine-tenths of Chileans age 15 and over are literate. Private schools, which are run by religious congregations, ethnic groups (such as German, French, Italian, and Israeli), and private educators have relatively high enrollments and cater to affluent families.

University education in Chile is of considerable renown throughout Latin America. The major institution is the University of Chile (originally founded in 1738), with campuses in Santiago, Arica, Talca, and Temuco. The University of Santiago of Chile and the Federico Santa Marta Technical University, in Valparaíso, are technical universities patterned after the German model. Private universities are the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, the Catholic University of Valparaíso, the University of the North in Antofagasta, the University of Concepción, and the Southern University of Chile in Valdivia.

Social welfare and labour legislation evolved earlier in Chile than it did in other Latin American countries, and they have reached a high level of development. Legislation was passed in the early part of the 20th century that regulated labour contracts, workers' health, and accident insurance. In successive years the social security system expanded in an attempt to cover all labour sectors. All workers were eventually covered by the Social Insurance System, maintained through contributions of employers, employees, and the state. In 1973 the military government changed social security into an individual savings scheme in which workers invest in private companies. The success of this investment system caused it to continue into the 21st century, and it has served as a model for other Latin American countries.

Health care also developed remarkably during the first half of the 20th century by means of state health plans managed by the National Health Service, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Public Health. An increasing number of facilities, equipment, and qualified personnel have reduced morbidity and infant mortality, eradicated tuberculosis, and brought infectious diseases under control. A movement by the Pinochet government to modify the state-administered public health system by introducing a profit-oriented private health system began in 1980. It offered the option of private health care to those who could afford it. At the beginning of the 21st century, government health insurance covered two-thirds of the population, including those who were unemployed.

Language and a common history have promoted cultural homogeneity in the country. Even the Araucanians and certain Aymara minorities in the north share the values of the Chilean identity, while continuing to cherish their own cultural heritage. Chileans have always displayed a high degree of tolerance toward the customs and traditions of minority groups, as well as toward Christian and non-Christian religious practices.

The flavour of local custom and tradition in Chile is readily observable in the numerous colourful religious festivals that take place at various localities throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of spectators are drawn to these processions.

Literature, poetry in particular, is the most significant of the creative arts in Chile. Two Chilean poets, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1945 and 1971, respectively), and the poetry of Vicente Huidobro and Nicanor Parra, also of the 20th century, is recognized in the world of Hispanic literature. Fiction, on the other hand, has not been a successful genre, perhaps because of its marked parochialism. Manuel Rojas enjoyed, during the 1950s and 1960s, a degree of international popularity, and in the late 20th century the novels of Isabel Allende became highly acclaimed not only in Latin America but also, in translation, in Europe and North America.

Much of the fine and performing arts of Chile is centred in Santiago, and the main season for cultural events is between March and November. One of the most famed Chilean musicians was pianist Claudio Arrau (Arrau, Claudio). Composers such as Enrique Soro and Juan Orrego are noted in the Latin American world of music, but they never achieved world recognition. The Chilean National Symphony Orchestra and several chamber music ensembles keep European musical culture alive in Chile. Dance and opera are highlighted by the Municipal Ballet and Opera and the National Ballet of the University of Chile. Contemporary folk music, particularly tonadas (poetic tunes accompanied by guitar), had its halcyon days in the 1960s and early 1970s, when protest and social-content songs were fashionable. Violeta Parra, who died in 1969, excelled in this style.

Santiago in particular is a hub of art galleries where the works of Chile's artists are displayed and sold. The country, however, has produced few artists of high acclaim. The painter Roberto Matta Echaurren and the sculptor Marta Colvin are among those of significance.

The country, and Santiago in particular, is rich in museums of fine arts; modern, folk, colonial, and pre-Columbian art; natural history; and Chilean national history. The Museum of National History is of particular note, and others include the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Natural Science, all in Santiago. The main library, the National Library of Chile, ranks among the largest in Latin America.

There is ample recreational and sports opportunity in Chile; the people can engage in most such activities common to Western cultures. The Pacific beaches are notably beautiful, but the cold water encourages more sunbathing than swimming. Viña del Mar is a particularly well-known summer resort, and the scenery of the Lake District to the south attracts many tourists. As in many Latin American countries, football (soccer) arouses a particular devotion among the populace, and crowds of up to 80,000 attend matches in Santiago. In this mountainous country skiing is enjoyed by devotees who flock to ski resorts, such as those at Portillo and Farellones (near Santiago) and those near Chillán to the south.

The degree of literacy and the demand for national and international information keeps a large number of journals and magazines in publication. Prior to the 1973 military coup, practically all political groups published their own daily or weekly journals. After the coup only journals that refrained from criticizing the government were allowed and censorship was strict and implacable. After 1981, books of political content or dissent were allowed to be published, provided the author was not suspected of being a Marxist. Radio and television stations followed policies of focusing attention away from poignant socioeconomic and political problems of the country. By tradition the stations have been operated by the universities but as commercial, profit-oriented enterprises. In 1967 a government channel was founded, which was used by subsequent administrations to disseminate propaganda. Most media restrictions had been lifted by the time of the 1989 presidential elections.

At the time of the Spanish conquest of Chile in the mid-16th century, at least 500,000 Indians inhabited the region. Nearly all of the scattered tribes were related in race and language, but they lacked any central governmental organization. The groups in northern Chile lived by fishing and by farming in the oases. In the 15th century they fell under the influence of expanding civilizations from Peru, first the Chincha and then the Quechua, who formed part of the extensive Inca Empire. Those invaders also tried unsuccessfully to conquer central and southern Chile.

The Araucanian Indian groups were dispersed throughout southern Chile. These mobile peoples lived in family clusters and small villages. A few engaged in subsistence agriculture, but most thrived from hunting, gathering, fishing, trading, and warring. The Araucanians resisted the Spanish as they had the Incas, but fighting and disease reduced their numbers by two-thirds during the first century after the Europeans arrived.

The Spanish conquest of Chile began in 1536–37, when forces under Diego de Almagro (Almagro, Diego de), associate and subsequent rival of Francisco Pizarro (Pizarro, Francisco), invaded the region as far south as the Maule River in search of an “Otro Peru” (“Another Peru”). Finding neither a high civilization nor gold, the Spaniards decided to return immediately to Peru. The discouraging reports brought back by Almagro's men forestalled further attempts at conquest until 1540–41, when Pizarro, after the death of Almagro, granted Pedro de Valdivia (Valdivia, Pedro de) license to conquer and colonize the area. Valdivia, with about 150 companions, including his mistress, Inés Suárez, the only Spanish woman in the company, entered Chile in late 1540 and founded Santiago (Feb. 12, 1541). For the next two decades the settlers lived a precarious existence and were constantly threatened by the Indians, who resisted enslavement. Before the safety of the colony was guaranteed, land was apportioned to the conquerors, and thus began the system of large estates. The estates were later institutionalized through the mayorazgo, a practice of transmitting estates by entail.

Valdivia did not undertake the conquest of the region south of the Bío-Bío River until 1550. In that year Concepción was founded, and preparations were made to move southward. During the next two years settlements and forts were established in La Frontera, but in 1553 the Araucanian Indians, under a skilled military chieftain named Lautaro, rose in a revolt that led to the capture and death of Valdivia and to the beginning of a costly struggle. The Araucanians, often referred to as the Apache of South America, kept the struggle alive until the 1880s by successfully adapting their way of life and military tactics to changing conditions.

Although Concepción was destroyed on several occasions, it remained as the Spanish outpost in the south as did La Serena, founded in 1544, in the north. The province of Cuyo held the same position east of the Andes until 1776, when it was made a part of the newly created Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The conquest of Chile was finally consolidated during the late 1550s under Gov. Don García Hurtado de Mendoza. Before the end of the 16th century English pirates and freebooters, including Sir Francis Drake (Drake, Sir Francis) and Thomas Cavendish (Cavendish, Thomas), and later Dutch adventurers harassed the coast in search of sudden wealth and as part of a prolonged effort to force Spain to permit neutral nations to trade with its New World colonies.

Because only quite limited amounts of precious metal were found in Chile, the settlers early turned their attention to agriculture. They grew a wide variety of cereals, vegetables, and fruits; raised livestock; and consumed nearly all of their production locally. Largely because of the poverty of the colony, there were never more than a few thousand black slaves; and, because the Indians proved to be an unreliable source of labour, the settlers often had to work the fields themselves. The lack of mineral wealth also made the area unattractive to Spaniards, and at the end of the 16th century there were no more than 5,000 Spanish settlers in the entire colony. In this regard it should be pointed out that, beginning in 1600 and continuing until trade restrictions were relaxed in the late colonial period, Chile was a “deficit area” in the empire, and the Spanish crown had to provide an annual subsidy to meet the expense of maintaining officials in Santiago and an army on the Araucanian frontier.

Chile lived under the same administrative and religious systems as its neighbours, but because the colony was poor, there was until the 18th century a tendency to send mediocre officials to preside over its destinies. The Spanish crown and the Roman Catholic Church combined to limit the colonists' administrative experience and economic development. The power of the captain-general, the highest royal official in the colony, was absolute. Appeals to the viceroy in Peru or the king in Spain were always possible, at least in theory. Chilean trade was tightly controlled from Peru. The influence of the Catholic Church in secular affairs was always significant and frequently decisive.

The most apparent social development after 1600 was the rapid growth of a mestizo (mixed Indian and European) group, which gives present-day Chile its homogeneous ethnic character. By the end of the colonial period, when the population reached an estimated 500,000 (not including unsubjugated Indians), approximately 300,000 were mestizos and about 150,000 were Creoles (Creole) (native-born persons of European descent). About 20,000 were peninsulares (peninsular) (recently arrived Spaniards), perhaps 15,000 were blacks, and a handful were recently emancipated Indians. Society was highly structured, with peninsulares at the top, followed by Creoles, mestizos, Indians, and African slaves. At the end of the colonial period, the vast majority of the population was concentrated in the Aconcagua Valley and the Central Valley (extending from Santiago to Concepción), which together form “the cradle of Chilean nationality.”

Education in colonial Chile was almost a complete monopoly of the Catholic clergy and reinforced the society's strong class differences. In 1758, however, courses were opened in the Royal and Pontifical University of San Felipe at Santiago and attracted students from the Spanish colonies across the Andes. Nonetheless, intellectual life in Chile developed slowly. The colony did not have a printing press until shortly before it won independence from Spain in 1818, and the paucity of contacts with the outside world reinforced its insularity.

Despite the colony's isolation, its inhabitants at the start of the 19th century were affected by developments elsewhere. The most significant of those developments were the winning of independence by the 13 Anglo-American colonies and by Haiti, the French Revolution, and the inability of Spain to defend its system in America, as indicated by the British invasion of the La Plata region and increased contraband trade on the part of British and U.S. citizens. Finally and decisively came the intervention of Napoleon in Spain, an act that in 1808 threw Chile and the other colonies on their own resources and led them to take the first steps toward greater autonomy and self-government. In Chile the initial move toward independence was made on Sept. 18, 1810, when a cabildo abierto (open town meeting) in Santiago, attended by representatives of privileged groups whose vaguely defined objectives included a change in administration, accepted the resignation of the President-Governor and in his place elected a junta composed of local leaders.

From 1810 to 1813 the course of the patriots was relatively peaceful because they were able to maintain themselves without formal ties to the Viceroyalty of Lima. Trade restrictions were relaxed; steps were taken toward the eventual abolition of slavery; a newspaper was established to publicize the beliefs of the patriots; and education was promoted, including the founding of the National Institute. However, the embers of civil strife were also fanned. The Creoles were divided over how far the colony should go toward self-government. José Miguel Carrera (Carrera, José Miguel) and his brothers, whose desire for complete independence was equaled if not surpassed by their personal ambition, inflamed the issues. Meanwhile, Spain had taken steps to reassert its control over the colony. At the Battle of Rancagua, on Oct. 1 and 2, 1814, it reestablished its military supremacy and ended what has been called la patria vieja (“The old fatherland”).

Following the defeat at Rancagua, patriot leaders, among them the Carrera brothers and Bernardo O'Higgins (O'Higgins, Bernardo), future director-dictator of Chile, migrated to Argentina. There O'Higgins won the support of José de San Martín (San Martín, José de), who, with the support of the revolutionary government in Buenos Aires, was raising an army to free the southern portion of the continent by first liberating Chile and then attacking Peru from the sea. The Carreras continued their spirited agitation for independence in Buenos Aires and the United States.

Meanwhile, many of those who remained in Chile suffered from the harsh rule of Spain's inept representatives and became convinced that absolute independence was necessary. In January 1817 San Martín's well-drilled army, with O'Higgins as one of its commanders, began its march across the Andes; and on Feb. 12, 1817, the patriot forces defeated the royalists on the hill of Chacabuco, which opened the way to Santiago. O'Higgins was proclaimed supreme director of Chile, although the act of declaring Chile's independence was not taken until a year later (Feb. 12, 1818), on the first anniversary of Chacabuco; and the decisive defeat of Spain on the Chilean mainland (Spain held the island of Chiloé until 1826) did not come until the Battle of Maipú, on April 5, 1818. Before emancipation was assured, O'Higgins began the creation of the Chilean navy, which by late 1818 was in the process of clearing the Chilean coast of Spanish vessels.

Chile was free, but its inherent weaknesses were everywhere manifest. The Creoles remained bitterly divided between O'Higgins and the Carreras. Two of the Carrera brothers had been executed in Mendoza, Arg., in 1818; and José Miguel Carrera suffered the same fate in the same city in 1821. The elite groups were dedicated to the retention of those institutions on which such things as law, property, family, and religion were founded. The masses, who had been little more than spectators in the conflicts between 1810 and 1818, were excluded from government.

The Chilean oligarchy had little sympathy with O'Higgins, who favoured reducing their privileges. They accepted him, however, because he was supported by the army and because of dangers posed by Spaniards still in Peru and in parts of Chile (Valdivia and the island of Chiloé) and by internal guerrillas loyal to the Spanish monarchy. Opposition to O'Higgins began to make itself heard once the Chilean-Argentine army expelled the Spaniards from Peru; it increased after 1822, when the Chileans succeeded in driving the remaining Spaniards from Chile. O'Higgins' attempt, by means of a new constitution, to concede a larger political role to the oligarchy did not increase his support, and general unrest and poor harvests forced him to abdicate in 1823.

The years 1823–30 were troubled by an internal political split between the oligarchy and the army; 30 successive governments held office, and a variety of political experiments were tried. Rivalries developed between federalists and centralizers and between authoritarians and liberals. To the political chaos were added financial and economic disorder and an increase in lawlessness that tended to strengthen the authoritarian members of the oligarchy. Rival political factions were eliminated in 1829 when authoritarians, with the help of a part of the army, were able to install a junta (collegial government) that nominated José Tomás de Ovalle as provisory president. Actual power, however, was held by Diego Portales (Portales, Diego), who, as either a cabinet member or a private citizen, in fact ruled as a virtual dictator.

During the next 30 years, Chile established its own definitive organization, made possible by a compromise among the members of the oligarchy. Portales played an important role in the compromise, and a new constitution achieved as a result (1833) remained the basis of Chilean political life until 1925. It created a strong central government, responsive to the influence of the landowning class, which controlled the parliament.

The establishment of this new political structure united the different factions that brought Ovalle and later Joaquín Prieto to power. The new government was strengthened by a successful war against the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation (Peruvian–Bolivian Confederation) (1836–39), during which it broadened its support by reinstating army officers ousted when the conservatives had seized power in 1829–30.

The government of Prieto and the succeeding governments of Manuel Bulnes (Bulnes, Manuel) and of Manuel Montt (Montt, Manuel) dedicated themselves to developing the economy. Their first and most pressing need was to reestablish the state finances, exhausted by the war. To this end, measures were taken to expand the principal source of state income—foreign trade. A free port was created at Valparaíso to encourage trade by foreign, especially British, merchants. These measures, however, would not have worked if Chilean products had not found new markets abroad. The discovery of gold in California (1848) and in Australia (1853) assured Chilean grain a vast market as the populations of those two areas expanded. The production of silver and copper increased in response to European demand, thereby increasing the wealth of the state and the dominant class. The economic development helped overcome political disagreements and aided the consolidation of internal peace.

Political stability and economic prosperity opened the way to modernization: the construction of the first railroads began, new roads were opened, and the harbours were improved. The government tried also to develop education, though largely for upper-class children. The University of Chile was founded, and foreign scholars were recruited to foster geologic, botanical, and economic studies. The development of commerce attracted numerous foreign entrepreneurs (British, French, and North American), who came to dominate the import-export trade.

The increase of wealth that especially favoured the oligarchy and foreign merchants also contributed to a diversification of the ruling class; the development of mining production in the north and of agriculture in the south created new fortunes, whose owners soon made their entry into the political world. An attempted coup d'état, the “revolution of 1851,” failed but was an indication of the political awakening of these new elements. A new development among younger members of the traditional oligarchy was the growth of liberalism and the appearance of political clubs around the middle of the century.

The impact of these forces was felt inside the political establishment, so much so that a minor conflict between the state and the church (church and state) over the right to make ecclesiastical appointments was sufficient to break the unity of the dominant political class. The oligarchy was divided into two groups: conservatives, who defended the traditional privileges of the church; and nationalists, who maintained the supremacy of the state. A part of each group, dissatisfied by the authoritarian government of President Montt, united and created a separate faction, the liberals.

The period after 1860, known as the “Liberal Republic,” saw the emergence of many rival political groups whose common characteristic—following an unsuccessful armed insurrection by radicals in 1859—was an attempt to gain power by peaceful means.

After 1855 the conservative element, supporting the hegemony of the church, had allied with the liberals in opposing President Montt. The radicals joined the alliance against Montt. José Joaquín Pérez (1861–71), though elected with the support of the “nationalists,” governed with the help of the liberal-conservative alliance. A division in the dominating political classes occurred about 1872, when the liberals started to draw away from the conservatives; the liberals succeeded in ending the Roman Catholic Church's monopoly in religious matters.

The fight to secularize the state opened the country to European influences in cultural activities and civil reforms. Young members of the economic and political oligarchy began to travel and study in Europe. They brought back many political, literary, and scientific ideas.

This new political and cultural opening toward Europe was linked to closer economic relations, especially with Great Britain, Chile's main trading partner. The British began to invest directly in Chile, supplying the capital needed to bring about the construction of railroads and the modernization of ports and public services. The increase of imports and the payment of interest from loans aggravated an already weak balance of payments and resulted in a continuing devaluation of the Chilean peso in relation to the British pound sterling.

The need to improve its balance of payments attracted Chile to saltpetre mines situated along the Chilean border in the Bolivian province of Antofagasta and in the Peruvian provinces of Tarapacá and Arica. Ill-defined borders and oppressive measures allegedly taken against the Chilean migrant population in these territories furnished Chile with a pretext for invasion. Chile defeated the Peruvian-Bolivian army and annexed these provinces.

The War of the Pacific had broad repercussions. France, Germany, and especially Britain had strong interests in the saltpetre mines, and they threatened to intervene. The United States, hoping to restrict European influence, offered to resolve the conflict by mediation; Chile refused the U.S. offer, fearing that it would have to give up its territorial gains. German support of the Chilean position further impeded European intervention.

The war weakened Chilean finances, and the economic situation continued to worsen. During the presidency of José Manuel Balmaceda (Balmaceda, José Manuel) (1886–91) the government tried to claim the revenues from the saltpetre mines and thus to assert major responsibility in economic matters. Nearly all of the oligarchy, however, was looking for a weaker, rather than a stronger, central power and objected to this attempt to strengthen the executive. The clash was resolved in a brief civil war, which ended with Balmaceda's abdication of the presidency.

The coalition that overthrew Balmaceda resulted from a large political regrouping of all those who wanted to strengthen the parliament; thus, after the civil war Chile's presidential republic was converted into a parliamentary republic. This meant that the oligarchy, which had extended itself into commerce and banking, needed only to assure itself of control of parliament—and thus of the various ministries—to dominate the political life of the country. In order to remain in office, governments now had to have the confidence of the parliament. What emerged was a continual struggle for power among the factions, which began to organize themselves as real political parties.

The period between 1891 and 1920 was one of intense political activity that saw the formation of new political parties and tendencies that tried to express the political desires of the middle and lower classes. The development of a state bureaucracy and the growth of the railroads and of commerce favoured the formation of social groups with urban concerns, rarely linked to the landed oligarchy, and increasingly aware of their possible political roles.

An active working class developed in the saltpetre mines, in the large public utility enterprises (railways, gas, electricity), and in the many factories that began to appear in the urban centres, especially in Santiago. The first strikes to obtain better salaries and working conditions occurred during this period.

The radical political faction—born as a dissenting wing of the liberals and striving toward the secularization of the country—became the Radical Party in 1888 and tended progressively to voice the concerns of the growing middle class.

The Democratic Party (Partido Democrático; formed 1887) was led by Malaquías Concha, who spoke for the needs of the artisans and a part of the urban workers. Founded by former radicals, this party differed from the Radical Party only in the particular emphasis it gave to the labour movement.

Marxist ideology had begun to spread among Chilean workers. The first socialist group, founded in 1897, advocated anarchism and a worker-controlled economy. It became the Socialist Party in 1901 but had a fleeting life. The increase of strikes and dissatisfaction of the miners, however, led to the formation (1912) in the mining region of a new Worker's Socialist Party (Partido Obrero Socialista), which influenced workers and university students and advocated an international class struggle; it became the Communist Party in 1922.

The radicalization of the parties of the left was caused largely by the ruling class's neglect of Chile's complex economic and social problems. The ruling class, concerned with protecting its own interests, failed to introduce needed reforms, and as a result the political instability already evident in the late 19th century grew worse. The traditional Liberal and Conservative parties were unable to adapt to the country's changing situation.

Along with the growing political and social problems, the economic situation also worsened. Loans obtained from Britain and, after 1916, from the United States served more to pay the interest on previous debts and to cover state expenses than to allow productive investments. The country consumed more than it produced, and this was translated into an annual inflation rate of more than 10 percent and to the constant devaluation of the currency in relation to the pound sterling and the dollar. Agrarian production barely kept pace with home consumption, but the large landowners were unable to introduce techniques to increase it. Industrial development lagged because of insufficient capital.

In the decade following World War I, falling saltpetre sales and rising inflation fueled dissatisfaction among the middle and working classes. They supported the election of the reformist president Arturo Alessandri Palma (Alessandri Palma, Arturo) in 1920. When the legislature blocked his initiatives, discontent spread to middle-class army officers. They intervened in 1924 to force parliamentary passage of his social reforms. Alessandri resigned but the military returned him to power in 1925. In that year the army backed Alessandri's installation of a new constitution, which lasted until 1973. It established a presidential republic, separated church and state, and codified the new labour and welfare legislation.

In the period between 1924 and 1932, 21 cabinets were formed and dissolved. These were years of profound crises, marked by attempts to create a new political structure by replacing the oligarchy with a new political elite. Under the military dictatorship of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (Ibáñez del Campo, Carlos) (1927–31), new economic reforms were tried: new industrial products were developed, the saltpetre mines were partially nationalized, public works were begun, and public education was improved. But these reforms did not touch the economic power of the oligarchy, which remained the principal political force.

The world depression of the 1930s was difficult for Chile's economy because the international demand and the prices for saltpetre and copper plummeted. Chile was forced to reduce imports, which in turn reduced national production. Incomes diminished, while public expenditures grew.

The economic crisis, accompanied by the fall of Ibáñez, permitted the traditional political forces to regain power. They remained in office only briefly, from July 1931 to June 1932, under the presidency of Juan Esteban Montero Rodríguez, because the crisis was so strong that every attempted improvement failed. Power was then gained by a civilian-military coalition that formed the Socialist Republic (from June to September 1932), which spawned the modern Socialist Party. By the end of 1932, however, new elections returned Arturo Alessandri Palma to the presidency.

Alessandri's second term (1932–38) was characterized by a return to constitutional normality and by the return to power of the old ruling class. Alessandri tried to restore state finances, badly weakened by the crisis. His economic measures attempted to increase mining and industrial production. Public works eased part of the existing unemployment. Social discomfort diminished, but it did not disappear.

The return to constitutional government did not resolve Chile's serious problems. The discontent of the workers and especially of the middle class was manifested in the 1938 presidential election. The Radical candidate, Pedro Aguirre Cerda, won with the support of a coalition of the left.

The period of Radical presidencies can be divided into two parts, separated by 1946. The first part included the presidencies of Aguirre Cerda (1938–41) and Juan Antonio Ríos (1942–46). Aguirre Cerda represented the middle class; his triumph came through the support of a popular front, which included the Radical, Socialist, and Communist parties and also the left-inspired Confederation of Chilean Workers.

Aguirre Cerda's program included measures for increasing industrial output. The Development Corporation (Corporación de Fomento de la Producción; Corfo) was created in 1939 to reduce imports and thus diminish the trade deficit by developing industry, mainly to produce consumer and intermediate goods.

During World War II Chile remained neutral until, in 1942, in a common action with other Latin American countries, it declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan. World War II and the Korean War of the early 1950s benefited Chile's economy; an increased demand for copper permitted a rise in incomes, which facilitated the expansion of public education and aided industrial development, thus helping to increase production.

During the period from 1946 to 1952, the president was Gabriel González Videla, also of the Radical Party, who gained a plurality with the support of the Communists. The Socialist Party denounced an offer of alliance, however, and the popular front could not be reconstituted. González Videla's first cabinets, between 1946 and 1948, included Communist ministers; but the international Cold War and Chile's internal troubles soon pushed González Videla toward the right. After 1948 he outlawed the Communists and ruled with the support of the Liberal Party.

Economic links with the United States, which had grown after the economic crisis of the 1930s, were strengthened after World War II; U.S. investments in Chile increased from $414,000,000 in 1945 to $540,000,000 in 1950, largely in copper production. By 1952 the United States had loaned $342,000,000 to the Chilean government. The exchange of technicians and professors helped tighten technical and cultural links between the two countries.

The presidency of González Videla saw the strong political recovery of the right. The Radical presidents had failed to transform Chile's economic and social situations. Between 1940 and 1952 Chile's population rose from 5,000,000 to 6,350,000, with the strongest increase in urban areas, which accounted for 52 percent of the total population in 1940 and 60 percent in 1952. Production rose during this period by a rate very close to the rise in population. But social inequities were not reduced.

Various conditions explain the victory in 1952 of the former dictator Gen. Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Under Radical rule the middle class had affirmed its political importance without injuring the economic power of the landed oligarchy, but the lower classes fell farther behind the middle and upper strata. In 1949 the vote was granted to women, and the electorate thus expanded from 631,257 in 1946 to about 1,000,000 in 1952. President Ibáñez was the candidate of a heterogeneous front based on his personal charisma, but he was not the choice of particular political parties.

Ibáñez had promised to rule with a strong hand and if necessary eliminate the parliament; but during his six years as president, he ruled with the support of the traditional right, which prevented any attempt at reform. Ibáñez retained the policy of state intervention in the economy and industrial matters inaugurated by the Radical cabinets.

Ibáñez was succeeded (1958–64) by the son of Arturo Alessandri Palma, Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, who won the support of the Conservative and Liberal parties. To satisfy popular demands without altering profoundly the structures of the country, he launched a public works program that helped absorb the masses of unemployed. At the same time, he tried to reduce the high inflation rate (about 60–70 percent yearly), to augment productivity by reducing taxes on business enterprises, and to stimulate industrial growth by expanding the home market through public expenditure.

The government placed restrictions on salary increases; salaries thus rose more slowly than prices, which continued to increase by about 30 percent yearly. This alienated the voters, and the government had to call for the support of the Radical Party.

Popular discontent helped revive the Marxist-inspired Socialist and Communist parties and produced an electoral loss of the parties of the right that corresponded with the rise of those of the left. The Christian Democratic Party, a centrist reform party founded in 1957, enjoyed the biggest increase—from 9 percent in 1957 to 15 percent in 1961. The Christian Democratic Party grew out of the Conservative Party. In 1938 a group of young conservatives had left their party to form the National Falange (Falange Nacional). In 1957 the National Falange fused with the Social Christian Party (which had also seceded from the Conservatives) to form the Christian Democratic Party, whose program tended toward serious reforms in the archaic economic and social structures. The Communist Party regained strength peacefully through an alliance with the Socialist Party, which believed that election was not the only way to power and which rejected alliances with the non-Marxist left.

At the end of Alessandri Rodríguez' rule the right-wing parties were so weakened that their electoral strength was practically cut in half in the 1965 elections; in order to remain on the political scene, they joined together to form the National Party. The centrist Radical Party also lost support. A common point existed between the Christian Democratic Party and the Marxist parties—the wish to weaken the old economic and political oligarchy and to try to rescue the country from its chronic underdevelopment by more decisive action in the agrarian sectors.

In the election of 1964 the Christian Democratic candidate, Eduardo Frei Montalva (Frei, Eduardo), won 56 percent of the votes. Support from the right-wing parties helped him defeat the Marxist coalition.

Frei's program, synthesized in the slogan “Revolution in Liberty,” promised a series of reforms for developing the country by raising the incomes of the lower classes. To attain this aim, Frei and the Christian Democrats instituted a program of “Chileanization,” by which the state took control of copper, Chile's principal resource, acquiring 51 percent of the shares of the large U.S. copper companies in Chile. They thus intended to increase incomes, with which they planned to permit industries to develop; they also planned a vast agrarian reform by which to reduce the imports of agricultural products. Frei also promised decisive state intervention and reform in banking. The Frei administration, at least during its first years, counted on strong support from the middle class. But the government alienated some of the middle class by trying also to obtain the support of the peasants and of the urban underemployed, until then on the margin of the political scene.

In 1967, with the support of the Socialist and Communist parties, an agrarian reform law was approved that enabled the government to expropriate uncultivated land and to limit the land that could be conserved by each owner. Peasant cooperatives were to be established on these lands, and the state was empowered to teach the peasants better farming techniques. Agrarian reform, however, proceeded slowly because of its costly emphasis on better housing and agricultural equipment and on an irrigation system. By 1970 about 5,000,000 acres had been expropriated.

The reformist program of the Frei government gave poorer people the incentive to take an active role in political life. This increase in political participation brought about further radicalization not only of the Communist and Socialist parties but also of some of the Radicals and Christian Democrats. In 1969 this cluster of parties and left-wing groups formed the Popular Unity (Unidad Popular) coalition, proposing as its presidential candidate Salvador Allende Gossens (Allende, Salvador), a Socialist and an avowed Marxist; he was elected president in 1970.

The Popular Unity program envisaged the eventual transition to socialism, which was to be accomplished through the end of domination of mining and finance by foreign capital, expanded agrarian reform, and more equal distribution of income favouring the poorer classes. The accomplishments of this program were responsible for the advance of Popular Unity in the municipal elections of 1971 and in the congressional elections of 1973.

Between 1970 and 1972, however, toleration of the Popular Unity government by the middle class declined as a consequence of difficulties in the economy, which featured a complex and not always consistent reorganization resulting from the nationalization of U.S.-owned copper mines—the main resource of economic production—and of a number of heavy industries. Difficulties in maintaining production levels were further augmented by boycotts on the side of foreign capital, mainly American, and the reduction of agricultural production as a consequence of agrarian reform. Inflation and stagnation of production were propitious to the growth and regrouping of the forces that opposed the socialist experiment. The oligarchy, the right-wing National Party, and the centre Christian Democrats finally joined their efforts and supported the antigovernment trends in the armed forces.

On Sept. 11, 1973, the armed forces staged a coup d'état. Allende died during an assault on the presidential palace, and a junta composed of three generals and an admiral, with Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (Pinochet, Augusto) as president, was installed. At the outset the junta received the support of the oligarchy and of a sizable part of the middle class. This support by moderate political forces, including many Christian Democrats, can be explained by their belief that a dictatorship represented a transitional stage necessary to restoring the status quo as it had been before 1970. Very soon they were to concede that the military officers in power had their own political objectives, including the repression of all left-wing and centre political forces. The Christian Democratic, National, and Radical Democracy parties were declared to be in “indefinite recess,” and the Communists, Socialists, and Radicals were proscribed. In 1977 the traditional parties were dissolved, and a private enterprise economy was instated.

The policies of the military government, though encouraging the development of free enterprise and a new entrepreneurial class, caused unemployment, a decline of real wages, and, as a consequence, a worsening of the standard of living of the lower and middle classes. Political and social conditions were complicated by a developing international economic crisis. In 1981 a new constitution, as well as an eight-year extension of Pinochet's presidential term, was enacted after a tightly controlled plebiscite was held in 1980. The document included specific provisions for a transition to civilian government over the same eight-year period and mandated that a referendum be held in 1988 on whether the ruling junta's president was to remain in office.

Large-scale popular protests erupted in 1983, and several opposition parties, the Christian Democratic Party being the largest, formed a new centre-left coalition, the Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática; AD). The Roman Catholic Church also began openly to support the opposition. In August 1984, 11 parties of the right and centre signed an accord, worked out by the archbishop of Santiago, Raúl Cardinal Silva Henríquez, calling for elections to be scheduled before 1989. Additional pressure came from the United States and other countries that had supported Chile economically but now showed signs of impatience with Pinochet's rule and with the numerous reports of human rights violations attributed to his regime.

The economic and political climate continued to be volatile in the late 1980s, with increasing pressure for governmental change, acts of terrorism multiplying, and the economy, though showing some signs of recovery, remaining basically unstable and precipitating strikes and protests from the labour sector. Although Pinochet made occasional concessions, he showed little sign of relinquishing his control or relaxing his restrictive policies. To organize opposition to Pinochet, who was chosen as the junta's candidate for the 1988 presidential plebiscite, 16 centrist and leftist parties formed the Command for No (Comando por el No). On Oct. 5, 1988, voters rejected Pinochet. As the country prepared for its first free presidential and legislative elections since 1973, Command for No—renamed the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertación de los Partidos por la Democracia; CPD)—and the government negotiated constitutional amendments that were approved in a national referendum in July 1989, among them the revocation of Article Eight, which banned Marxist parties. Two months later the government declared, with some restrictions, that all political exiles (exile and banishment) were permitted to return to Chile.

In the December 1989 presidential election, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin Azócar, leader of the CPD, won by a large margin over his closest opponent, Hernán Büchi Buc, a former finance minister and the government-endorsed candidate. The coalition also gained a majority in the lower chamber and nearly half the seats in the upper chamber. Aylwin, who took office in March 1990, supported Chile's free-market system but also emphasized social and political change. Before stepping down, Pinochet was able to appoint several new Supreme Court justices and to claim a lifetime senatorial seat; he also retained significant power as commander of the armed forces until his retirement from the military in 1998.

Chile became embroiled in an unprecedented controversy in 1998. While visiting London, Pinochet was detained when Spain requested his extradition in connection with the torture of Spanish citizens in Chile during his dictatorship. The case caused the United States and other countries to release documents relating to those who had “disappeared” in Chile under Pinochet's rule. In January 2000 Pinochet won an appeal on medical grounds and was permitted to return home, but Chilean authorities continued to investigate numerous charges of earlier human rights abuses. Stripped of the immunity from prosecution he had enjoyed as a former president, Pinochet was indicted later that year, though the case was later dismissed. In January 2005, however, Chile's Supreme Court upheld another indictment of Pinochet, who was once again without immunity (which is removed on a case-by-case basis under Chilean law).

Democratic systems continued to strengthen in Chile in the 21st century, and in 2000 Ricardo Lagos (Lagos, Ricardo) of the CPD was elected the country's first socialist president since Allende. Under Lagos's administration, the economy improved and numerous social reforms were enacted. Lagos was succeeded by another socialist, Michelle Bachelet (Bachelet, Michelle), also a member of the CPD, who in 2006 became the first woman president of Chile. After taking office, Bachelet was faced with massive protests staged by students who were dissatisfied with Chile's public education and with strikes by copper miners and health workers. When Pinochet died in December 2006, Bachelet's government denied the former dictator a state funeral, although the armed forces gave him a military funeral with full honours.

Chile remained one of South America's most successful economies in the early 21st century as industrial production surged and unemployment decreased. The country began efforts to improve relations with Bolivia and Peru, despite past territorial disputes and broken diplomatic ties.