Demographics

• Population 15.5 million (2002)
• Capital - Santiago, population 4.6 million
• Population growth 1.2%
• Life expectancy 76.6 years
• Litteracy 95.4%
  Source: Central Bank

Geography

Chile is a narrow country, running 4,329km (the equivalent of Stockholm to Gibraltar) down the length of the Southwestern tip of South America. At 756,626 km², continental Chile is more than twice as large as Italy and nearly one and a half times the size of Spain. It is bounded by the Atacama Desert to the North and the polar icecap of Antartica to the South. The mighty Andes, with peaks over 6,000m high, lie to the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west, provide a natural bulwark against pests and disease. Chile's neighbours include Peru to the North, and Bolivia and Argentina to the East.

Northern Chile is renowned for its prodigious fisheries and mineral wealth. Santiago, the capital, stands in the centre of the country, home to most farming and industrial activities. The generous fisheries and forestry resources of Chile's South are harvested on the basis of stringent sustainable development policies. The far South is a world-famous eco-tourism destination known, not only for Easter Island, but for breathtaking lakes, volcanoes, myriad islands, fjords and glaciers.