Political Geo

Geography

Chile is situated between the Andes Mountain Chain and the Pacific Ocean, in a very narrow portion of land which is no superior to 350 kilometers in its maximum width. The country extends from its Northern border with Perú and Bolivia, to the South to the Antartic Territory, where several military and scientific bases have been built. They form the so called Chilean Antartic Territory. The maximum extension of Chile reaches 4,329 kilometers.
Chilean Geography is characterized by its manifested opposition and diversity. While in the North, the weather is a condition to the presence of the dryiest desert in the world - the Atacama Dessert - in the Center and South of Chile, green valleys are multiplied allowing its fertility the production of fruits and vegetables to feed the population and big international markets who are used to Chilean high quality of nectareans, wines and grapes, among others.

Government
Chile is a Republic which is managed under a democratic-like government. In the country, there is a clear delimitation and independence of the 3 State Branches. The Executive Branch is lead by the President of the Republic, who retains the position of the State-in-Chief as well. The Judiciary Branch is conducted by the Supreme Court, which administers justice supported by the Appealing Court. The Legislative Branch is based on two Chambers. It is formed by the Parliament and the Senate. The first is composed by 120 Congressmen from the 15 regions that conform the country, while the Upper Chamber is formed by 38 Senators.
These three State Branches base their labour on the State Political Constitution that was dictated in 1980. This fundamental letter has been successively reshaped with the aim of faithfully representing the changes that the Chilean society has been suffering as per the coming of democracy in 1990, date on which Mr. Patricio Aylwin became President of the Republic.

Official Currency
The official currency is the Chilean Peso.

Oficial Language
The official language is Spanish, although, there are some native groups in the north and south of the country who keep their original dialect.

Religion
70% of the population is Catholic, and eventhough the State is laic, all kinds of religions are respected.

Weather
More than the 4.3 thousand kilometers that Chile presents from North to South, allow this country to have a wide variety of weather that goes from dryness in the northern desert to the heavy rain to the Southern region. However, and according to the official definitions, the climate in Chile can be divided into three groups: the Dry, the Warm and the Cold one.

Dry Weather
This kind of weather is presented in the Northern part of the country, between the cities of Arica and Santiago, with certain variations in some stretches.
Here the Coastal Mountain Chain acts as a "weather barrier", not allowing the humid wind from the sea to pass. This explains the reason why in the Northern Area, the Atacama desert is present, which is one of the driest places in the world.
Between Arica and La Serena, the dry weather is present, with a desert-like type, with a yearly average temperature of 18°C on the coast. Days are characterized because mornings are full of clouds and the afternoons of hot sun. Towards the inner (east) side, it is drier and drier and the temperature fluctuates from 35°C to 0°C between the day and night. There are even some places where it has never rained and others where the occasional winter rains lead to an amazing flowered desert.
As long as the height increases, temperature variability goes up considerably, reaching less than cero Celsius degrees at night.
The existing stretch from La Serena and the North of Santiago is characterized by the presence of warm-steppe-like and dry climate. This means that temperatures decrease a bit and there is a slight raise in rains and the air humidity.
Warm Weather:
Almost all the rest of the country belongs in the category of warm weather, although it is presented in several different versions depending on the specific zone. In general terms, this kind of climate is distinguished to be very nice and because it has each of the seasons of the year clearly differenced.
Between Santiago and Concepción, mainly agricultural area, mediterranean warm weather is present, which main features are dry summer and a winter in which rains reach app. between 340 and 1,200 mm with average temperatures that go from 14°C and 15°C a year.
From Concepción to Puerto Montt, the rainy warm weather is encountered, where temperatures go down and rain increases, surpassing the 2,500 mm. This climate allows the presence of native forests and an active farming and animal husbandry industry.
To the South of Puerto Montt, till parallel 47°, the warm maritime weather begins. In this zone, there is a big increase in rains, although temperatures are moderate due to the sea influence. This is produced due to the fact that Coastal Mountain Chain height decreases, which permits the passing of humid air coming from the sea. Finally, to the South of parallel 47ºS, the cold-warm weather is found, with rains between 4,000 and 7,000 mm.
Cold Weather:
Same as the rest of the weather types, the cold kind one presents some variations depending on the relief and the location in respect to sea.
At the Patagonic Andes the steppe-like cold type is present, with temperatures of -2,5ºC in winter and no more than 12ºC in summer. Here, rains do not surpass the 350 mm.
At the Andes Chain Mountain peaks the height cold ice-type weather is present, with snow and very low temperatures.
In the Antartic, polar cold-type weather exists, with strong wind and temperatures that do not surpass the 0ºC during practically the whole year.

Easter Island and Juan Fernández
The Easter Island has a subtropical warm climate, with rains during the whole year, but a very nice average temperature of 20,4ºC.
The Juan Fernández archipielago presents a very warm mediterranean-like weather with rains during the whole year. The annual average temperature is 14°C.

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