Chile

Presidential republic

Official:

Republic of Chile

Local name:

Chile

Region:

South America

Surface area:

756,700 km²

Capital:

Santiago

Geography

Chile is a country in north-south direction along the South American Andes and directly on the Pacific. The land has a total area of 756,700 km² (292,163 mi²) and a total coastline of 6,435 km (3,998.5 mi). This land area is approximately 109% of the area of Texas. Chile is thus one of the largest countries in the Americas and the 38th biggest in the world. An exceptionally high proportion of residents (88%) belongs to the urban population.

Chile lies at an average elevation of 1871 m above sea level and is therefore one of the highest countries in the world. The highest mountain peak (Nevado Ojos del Salado) is at 6,893 meters. The country has about 5,000 partially uninhabited islands. There are direct national borders with the three neighboring countries Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. The distance between New York City and the Capital Santiago is about 8,260 km (5,133 mi).

On further pages:

Current time in Santiago:

00:00

July 2024

The time in Santiago is Chile Time (CLT), with no time difference to New York.
As in many countries far away from the equator, there is a daylight savings time in the summer. Related to GMT, the time difference is usually -4 hours in summer and -3 hours in winter. The next time change will be on September 08 at 1:00 am (local time).

Time zones and clock changes Public Holidays in Chile Sunrise + Sunset

Population

Population:19,604,000

Population per km²:25.91

Life expectancy males:Ø 77.2 years

Life expectancy females:

Ø 81.9 years

Birth rate:

11.8 ‰

Death rate:

7.2 ‰

Males/Females:

49.6% : 50.4%

Population pyramid

The currency in Chile is the Chilean peso (CLP).
1 Peso is divided into 100 Centavos.
Status: 07/08/2024

1 US dollar = 937.83 Pesos
1000 Pesos = 1.07 US dollar

Climate in Chile

For a country with a north-south extent of over 3900 km, it is not possible to describe the climate in general. In Chile, a subtropical climate dominates. In the summer months there is hardly any precipitation and the usual evaporation ensures a strong dryness. Depending on the season, the average daytime temperatures range between 13 and 25 degrees. In some parts of the country, the temperature rises to 31 °C. In the colder months, and depending in the region, the temperature drops to 6 °C in a month's average.

Average daytime and nighttime temperatures

Languages

Official language:

Spanish

Mother tongue	Distribution
Spanish	89.7 %
English	5.2 %
Quechua	0.8 %
Aymara	0.8 %
Mapudungun	0.6 %
Rapa Nui	0.2 %
other	2.7 %

Religions

Religion	Distribution
Mormons	3.0%
Roman Catholics	65.7%
Protestants	15.4%
Jehovah's Witnesses	1.0%
nondenominational	11.5%
other	3.4%

more...

Economy

GDP:	301.02 bn $
Exportations:	107.08 bn $
Importations:	118.09 bn $
› Tourism receipts:	633.00 M $
Debt rate:	37.98 %
› Unemployment rate:	9.04 %
› Inflation rate:	11.64 %
› Corruption index:	66 (moderate)
› Energy consumption:	75.3 bn kWh

According to the definition from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Chile is a developing country because of its lower economic performance. With a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.860, Chile counts as one of the high developed economies by UN definition.

With an average annual income of 15,360 USD Chile is one of the high-income countries.

Land use

2% Urban areas:	12,028 km²
21% Agricultural areas:	160,647 km²
24% Forest:	185,316 km²
2% Water areas:	13,168 km²
53% Others:	398,709 km²

more...

Transport

Roadways:	85,983 km
Railways:	7,282 km
Reg. vehicles:	8,000,000
› Airports:

Most important cities

Population refers to the city proper, not metropolitan areas.

City	Region	Population
Santiago / Capital	Santiago Metropolitan	536,000
Puente Alto	Santiago Metropolitan	664,000
Antofagasta	Antofagasta	435,000
Viña del Mar	Valparaíso	369,000
San Bernardo	Santiago Metropolitan	341,000
Valparaíso	Valparaíso	318,000
Temuco	Araucanía	285,000
Rancagua	O'Higgins	264,000
Coquimbo	Coquimbo	255,000
Puerto Montt	Los Lagos	249,000
La Serena	Coquimbo	237,000
Arica	Arica y Parinacota	237,000
Concepción	Biobío	234,000
Talca	Maule	230,000
Iquique	Tarapacá	227,000
La Pintana	Santiago Metropolitan	189,000
Calama	Antofagasta	189,000
Chillán	Biobío	186,000
Copiapó	Atacama	172,000
Quilpué	Valparaíso	170,000
Valdivia	Los Ríos	169,000
Los Ángeles	Biobío	168,000
Osorno	Los Lagos	161,000
Talcahuano	Biobío	157,000
Curicó	Maule	152,000
Villa Alemana	Valparaíso	144,000
Punta Arenas	Magallanes	138,000
Coihaique	Aisén	46,000

The difference between the urban area and the city proper alone can be considerable. Santiago, for example, has an urban population of 7,171,000. However, the actual proper city is much smaller with only 536,000 inhabitants. The difference to metropolitan regions, i.e. conurbations with several cities, is even greater.

Political indicators

(Based on the "Worldwide Governance Indicators" project of the World Bank)

Political stability:	◈
Rule of law:	◈
Effectivity:	◈
Regulatory quality:	◈
Voice accountability:	◈
Democratic values:	◈
Death penalty:	Only for serious crimes (e.g. martial law)

Existing trade agreements

Alliances

Argentina: country data and statisticsArgentina in numbers: demographics, economy, energy, climate and more data and comparisons with other countries.

List of 152 developing countriesList of all 152 developing countries with below-average living standards

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