What was chile named for

In contrast to its authoritarian political rule, the military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies.

During its 16 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment.

In a plebiscite on October 5, , General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans voted for elections to choose a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress. On December 14, , Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the Concertacion, was elected president. Aylwin served from to and was succeeded by another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle son of the previous President , leading the same coalition, for a 6-year term.

Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party and the Party for Democracy led the Concertacion to a narrower victory in presidential elections. Chile's Constitution was approved in a September national plebiscite. It entered into force in March After Pinochet's defeat in the plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution.

In September , President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.

Presidential and congressional elections were held December and January As a result, the top two vote-getters--center-left Concertacion coalition?? This was Chile?? All four have been judged free and fair. The President is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms. President Bachelet and the new members of Congress took office on March 11, Chile has a bicameral Congress, which meets in the port city of Valparaiso, about kilometers 84 mi.

Deputies are elected every 4 years, and Senators serve 8-year terms. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates.

Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district. Historically, the two largest coalitions Concertacion and Alianza split most of the seats in a district.

Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats. In the December 11, congressional elections, the Concertacion coalition won a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

In the member Senate, the Concertacion coalition holds 20 seats and the Alianza opposition holds There is one independent. In the member Chamber of Deputies, the Concertacion coalitions holds 65 seats and the Alianza holds Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court.

In June , Chile completed a nation-wide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. The President has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.

The Chilean Army is one of the most professional and technologically advanced armies in Latin America. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only eight are operational major combatants frigates. Those ships are based in Valparaiso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano. Ricardo Ortega Perrier heads a force of 12, Carabineros After the military coup in September , the Chilean national police Carabineros were incorporated into the Defense Ministry.

With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Jose Bernales is the head of the national police force of 30, men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile began to experience a moderate economic downturn in , brought on by unfavorable global economic conditions related to the Asian financial crisis, which began in The economy remained sluggish until , when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.

The Chilean economy finished with growth of 6. Real GDP growth reached 6. Higher energy prices as well as lagging consumer demand were drags on the economy in Higher Chilean Government spending and favorable external conditions including record copper prices for much of were not enough to offset these drags. For the first time in many years, Chilean economic growth in was among the weakest in Latin America.

Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since have continued privatization, though at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant CODELCO and a few other enterprises there is one state-run bank.

Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed free trade agreements FTAs with a whole network of countries, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in and implemented in January It reached a partial trade agreement with India in and began negotiations for a full-fledged FTA with India in Chile plans to continue its focus on its trade ties with Asia by negotiating in trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

There has also been criticism of the inefficiency and high costs due to a lack of competition among pension funds. Critics cite loopholes in the use of pension savings through lump sum withdraws for the purchase of a second home or payment of university fees as fundamental weaknesses of the AFP. The Bachelet administration plans substantial reform, but not an overhaul, of the AFP during the next several years. Unemployment finally dipped to 7.

Most international observers place some of the blame for Chile?? Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The percentage of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a family of four??

Chile registered an inflation rate of 3. The Chilean peso?? Most wage settlements and loans are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Much of the jump in FDI in was also the result of acquisitions and mergers and has done little to create new employment in Chile. The Chilean Government has formed a Council on Innovation and Competition, which is tasked with identifying new sectors and industries to promote.

It is hoped that this, combined with some tax reforms to encourage domestic and foreign investment in research and development, will bring in additional FDI and to new parts of the economy. As of , Chile invested only 0. Even then, two-thirds of that was government spending. Additionally, on January 8, , Chile was placed on the U. Trade Representative?? Chile is only the second U. Chile has a poor and deteriorating record of protecting copyrighted music, films, and software. Combined with this is its institutional structure allowing local companies to produce and market pharmaceutical generics that violate existing patents.

Beyond its general economic and political stability, the government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to operate in the region, but this will have limited value given the developing business climate in Chile itself. Chile's approach to foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital.

While Chile and the EU have signed a double taxation treaty, no such agreement exists between the U. Foreign Trade was a record year for Chilean trade. During , exports of goods and services totaled U. This figure was somewhat distorted by the skyrocketing price of copper. In , copper exports reached a historical high of U. Imports totaled U.

Chile thus recorded a positive trade balance of U. The main destinations for Chilean exports were the Americas U. Seen as shares of Chile?? Within Chile?? Total trade with the U. Since the U. Internal Government of Chile figures show that even when factoring out inflation and the recent high price of copper, bilateral trade between the U. The Netherlands and Italy were Chile??

Trade with Korea and Japan grew significantly, but China remained Chile?? The growth of exports in was due mainly to a strong increase in sales to the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan. These three markets alone accounted for an additional U. Chilean exports to the United States totaled U. Exports to the European Union were U.

Exports to Asia increased from U. During , Chile imported U. Mercosur members were the main suppliers of imports to Chile at U. From Asia, China was the most important exporter to Chile, with goods valued at U.

Year-on-year growth in imports was especially strong from a number of countries--Ecuador Chile has made an effort to expand nontraditional exports.

The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine. Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued trade-liberalizing agreements. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in with the European Union and South Korea.

To that end, it has signed trade agreements in recent years with New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, India, China, and most recently Japan. In , Chile plans to begin negotiations with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia. After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June that will lead to completely duty-free bilateral trade within 12 years.

The U. The bilateral FTA has inaugurated greatly expanded U. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's World Trade Organization WTO obligations in , and the government has introduced legislation to modify them.

Under the terms of the U. Finance Chile's financial sector has grown quickly in recent years, with a banking reform law approved in that broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean Government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in , and there is further pending legislation proposing further liberalization.

Over the last ten years, Chileans have enjoyed the introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has also been accompanied by an increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards.

There are three main ways for Chilean firms to raise funds abroad: bank loans, issuance of bonds, and the selling of stocks on U. Nearly all of the funds raised through these means go to finance domestic Chilean investment.

The Government of Chile continues to pay down its foreign debt, with public debt only 3. Since its return to democracy in , Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena.

Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade.

The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the s. Subsequent major insurrections took place in and in Each time the Mapuche and other native groups revolted, the southern border of the colony was driven northward. The abolition of slavery by the Spanish crown in was done in recognition that enslaving the Mapuche intensified resistance rather than cowing them into submission.

Despite the royal prohibitions relations remained strained from continual colonialist interference. Cut off to the north by desert, to the south by the Mapuche, to the east by the Andes Mountains, and to the west by the ocean, Chile became one of the most centralized, homogeneous colonies in Spanish America. Serving as a sort of frontier garrison, the colony found itself with the mission of forestalling encroachment by both the Mapuche and Spain's European enemies, especially the British and the Dutch.

Chile hosted one of the largest standing armies in the Americas, making it one of the most militarized of the Spanish possessions, as well as a drain on the treasury of the Viceroyalty of Peru. The population is estimated at ,, The usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph in precipitated the drive by the colony for independence from Spain.

A national junta in the name of Ferdinand — heir to the deposed king — was formed on 18 September The Government Junta of Chile proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy in memory of this day Chile celebrates its National Day on 18 September each year. Spanish attempts to re-impose arbitrary rule during what was called the Reconquista led to a prolonged struggle, including infighting from Bernardo O'Higgins, who challenged Carrera's leadership.

Intermittent warfare continued until On 12 February Chile was proclaimed an independent republic. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church.

A strong presidency eventually emerged, but wealthy landowners remained powerful. A treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan was signed in As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia —83 , Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third, eliminating Bolivia's access to the Pacific, and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence.

The Chilean Civil War in brought about a redistribution of power between the President and Congress, and Chile established a parliamentary style democracy. However, the Civil War had also been a contest between those who favored the development of local industries and powerful Chilean banking interests, particularly the House of Edwards who had strong ties to foreign investors. The Chilean economy partially degenerated into a system protecting the interests of a ruling oligarchy.

By the s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, Arturo Alessandri, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. In the s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose. A military coup led by General Luis Altamirano in set off a period of political instability that lasted until When constitutional rule was restored in , a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years.

During the period of Radical Party dominance —52 , the state increased its role in the economy. The presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty", the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers.

By , however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive.

At the end of his term, Frei had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. Allende was not elected with an absolute majority, receiving fewer than 35 percent of votes. It became a war of classes, motivated by the central government. Despite pressure from the United States government, the Chilean Congress conducted a runoff vote between the leading candidates, Allende and former president Jorge Alessandri and keeping with tradition, chose Allende by a vote of to Frei refused to form an alliance with Alessandri to oppose Allende, on the grounds that the Christian Democrats were a workers party and could not make common cause with the right-wing.

An economic depression that began in was exacerbated by capital flight, plummeting private investment, and withdrawal of bank deposits in response to Allende's socialist program. Production fell and unemployment rose. Allende adopted measures including price freezes, wage increases, and tax reforms, to increase consumer spending and redistribute income downward.

Joint public-private public works projects helped reduce unemployment. Many enterprises within the copper, coal, iron, nitrate, and steel industries were expropriated, nationalized, or subjected to state intervention. Industrial output increased sharply and unemployment fell during the Allende administration's first year.

Allende's program included advancement of workers' interests, replacing the judicial system with "socialist legality", nationalization of banks and forcing others to bankruptcy, and strengthening "popular militias" known as MIR.

Started under former President Frei, the Popular Unity platform also called for nationalization of Chile's major copper mines in the form of a constitutional amendment. The measure was passed unanimously by Congress. In addition, American financial pressure restricted international economic credit to Chile. The economic problems were also exacerbated by Allende's public spending which was financed mostly by printing money and poor credit ratings given by commercial banks.

Simultaneously, opposition media, politicians, business guilds and other organizations helped to accelerate a campaign of domestic political and economical destabilization, some of which was helped by the United States. By early , inflation was out of control. The crippled economy was further battered by prolonged and sometimes simultaneous strikes by physicians, teachers, students, truck owners, copper workers, and the small business class.

Although illegal under the Chilean constitution, the court supported and strengthened Pinochet's seizure of power. Finally, a military coup overthrew Allende on 11 September As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace, Allende apparently committed suicide.

A military junta, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime were marked by human rights violations. On October , at least 72 people were murdered by the Caravan of Death. According to the Rettig Report and Valech Commission, at least 2, were killed, and at least 27, were tortured including 88 children younger than 12 years old.

A new Constitution was approved by a controversial plebiscite on 11 September , and General Pinochet became president of the republic for an 8-year term.

After Pinochet obtained rule of the country, several hundred committed Chilean revolutionaries joined the Sandinista army in Nicaragua, guerrilla forces in Argentina or training camps in Cuba, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa.

In the late s, largely as a result of events such as the economic collapse and mass civil resistance in —88, the government gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union and political activity.

Chile moved toward a free market economy that saw an increase in domestic and foreign private investment, although the copper industry and other important mineral resources were not opened for competition. Chileans elected a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress on 14 December President Aylwin served from to , in what was considered a transition period.

On 27 February , Chile was struck by an 8. More than people died most from the ensuing tsunami and over a million people lost their homes. The earthquake was also followed by multiple aftershocks. Chile achieved global recognition for the successful rescue of 33 trapped miners in A rescue effort organized by the Chilean government located the miners 17 days later. All 33 men were brought to the surface on 13 October , over a period of almost 24 hours, an effort that was carried on live television around the world.

The current Constitution of Chile was approved in a national plebiscite —regarded as "highly irregular" by some observers— in September , under the military government of Augusto Pinochet. It entered into force in March After Pinochet's defeat in the plebiscite, the constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution.

In September , President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.

Chileans voted in the first round of presidential elections on 13 December None of the four presidential candidates got more than 50 percent of the vote. This was Chile's fifth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All five have been judged free and fair. The president is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms. Senators serve for 8 years with staggered terms, while deputies are elected every 4 years. The current Senate has a 20—18 split in favor of the opposition coalition.

The last congressional elections were held on 13 December , concurrently with the presidential election. The current lower house-the Chamber of Deputies-contains 58 members of the governing center-right coalition, 54 from the center-left opposition and 8 from small parties or independents. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a binomial system that, for the most part, rewards the two largest representations equally, often regardless of their relative popular support.

Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats, which tends to lock the legislative in a roughly split. In the congressional elections, the conservative Independent Democratic Union UDI surpassed the Christian Democrats for the first time to become the largest party in the lower house. In the last legislative elections in Chile, the Communist Party won 3 out of seats in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 30 years the Communisty Party was not allowed to exist as such during the dictatorship.

Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court of Chile. In June , Chile completed a nationwide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

The Armed Forces of Chile are subject to civilian control exercised by the president through the Minister of Defense. The president has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional and technologically advanced armies in Latin America. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only eight are operational major combatants frigates. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft.

The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano. The Air Force took delivery of the final 2 of 10 Fs, all purchased from the U. Chile also took delivery in of a number of reconditioned Block 15 Fs from the Netherlands, bringing to 18 the total of Fs purchased from the Dutch. After the military coup in September , the Chilean national police Carabineros were incorporated into the Defense Ministry.

With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Since the early decades after independence, Chile has always had an active involvement in foreign affairs. In the country aggressively challenged the dominance of Peru's port of Callao for preeminence in the Pacific trade routes, defeating the short-lived alliance between Peru and Bolivia, the Peru-Bolivian Confederation —39 in the War of the Confederation.

The war dissolved the confederation while distributing power in the Pacific. A second international war, the War of the Pacific —83 , further increased Chile's regional role, while adding considerably to its territory. During the 19th century, Chile's commercial ties were primarily with Britain, a country that had a decisive influence on the organization of the navy.

The French influenced Chile's legal and educational systems and had a decisive impact on Chile, through the architecture of the capital in the boom years at the turn of the 20th century. German influence came from the organization and training of the army by Prussians. With the military coup of , Chile became isolated politically as a result of widespread human rights abuses. Since its return to democracy in , Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena.

Jose Miguel Insulza, a Chilean national, was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States in May and confirmed in his position, being re-elected in The country is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade. The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries.

It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in —83 War of the Pacific.

The two countries maintain consular relations and are represented at the Consul General level. Chile is divided into 15 regions, each headed by an intendant appointed by the president. The regions are further divided into provinces, with provincial governors also appointed by the president. Finally each province is divided into communes which are administered by municipalities, each with its own mayor and council elected for four year terms.

Each region is designated by a name and a Roman numeral, assigned from north to south. A long and narrow coastal Southern Cone country on the west side of the Andes Mountains, Chile stretches over 4, kilometres 2, mi north to south, but only kilometres mi at its widest point east to west. This encompasses a remarkable variety of landscapes. It contains , square kilometres , sq mi of land area. It is situated within the Pacific Ring of Fire. The northern Atacama Desert contains great mineral wealth, primarily copper and nitrates.

The relatively small Central Valley, which includes Santiago, dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the historical center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it integrated the northern and southern regions.

Southern Chile is rich in forests, grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The Andes Mountains are located on the eastern border. Chile is the longest north-south country in the world, and also claims 1,, km 2 , sq mi of Antarctica as part of its territory. But when the rains do come, parts of the desert bloom with beautiful fields of purple flowers that stretch for miles. Crack open a cold one! Even though Chile is internationally known for its succulent red wines and its devilish pisco, Chile also has a strong and diverse beer culture!

This is thanks to a strong influx of German immigrants from the late s, who came to Chile to live in the South and brought their brewing traditions and cuisine and architecture as well with them.

So be sure to sample some local craft brews during your visit. Chileans know how to ring in the New Year with style! In , a Guinness World Record was achieved for setting off 16, fireworks.

Housed at the San Alfonso del Mar Resort, the pool stretches the length of 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools and holds 66 million gallons. Chile may be known for its wine, but the vines are not indigenous to the region.

Vitis viniferia vines were first brought over by the Spanish colonizers. After the Essex sank, the remaining sailors were able to survive for some time on some islands off the coast before being saved and taken to the port city of Valparaiso. Oh brave new world! The largest earthquake ever recorded - a 9. The shake lasted roughly eleven to thirteen minutes, and overall claimed anywhere from 1, to 6, lives due to the severity of the quake and the resulting tsunami.

But don't worry - Chile has a long history with earthquakes and all the buildings are built to withstand tremors big and small. Chile has one of the only two permanent civilian bases on the continent of Antarctica. One route of the Pan-American Highway ends in the town of Quellon on the grand island of Chiloe , featuring a giant marker for photo opportunities and even the chance to purchase a commemorative declaration.

The other official route crosses the continent and ends in the Argentinean city of Ushuaia. Think that the flag of Chile looks like the flag of Texas? BUT the Chilean flag is actually 21 years older than the Texan flag. However, both are modeled after the stars and stripes flag for the United States of America. The colors and symbols on the Chilean flag stand for: white - the snow of the Andes Mountains; blue - the sky and the Pacific Ocean; the star - guidance and progress; red - the blood spilled in the fight for independence.

The street food is to die for! Savory sopaipillas , empanadas , completo hot dogs, candied peanuts, fresh juices, crates of candies and chips The street food is plentiful, cheap, and mouthwateringly good. Chileans enjoy their tasty treat year-round, and ice cream parlors are as plentiful in Chile as Starbucks are in the States. Plus, many ice cream shops feature flavors based on local fruits and other ingredients.

The Chinchorro mummies were discovered in the Camarones Valley, and the oldest one is dated to be from around BC. You can see penguins in Chile! There are multiple places to see nesting and breeding sites for a variety of penguins, including Magellanic penguins, Humboldt penguins, and southern rockhopper penguins throughout the country, including Chiloe and Tierra del Fuego.