Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country
in western South America. It is the southernmost country in
the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a
narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the
Pacific Ocean. Chile had a population of 17.5 million as
of the latest census in 2017 and has a territorial area
of 756,102 square kilometers (291,933 sq mi), sharing
borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast,
Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south.
The country also controls several Pacific islands, including
Juan Fernández, Isla Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter
Island, and claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers
(480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica as the Chilean Antarctic
Territory.[nb 2] The capital and largest city of Chile is
Santiago, and the national language is Spanish.
Spain conquered and colonized the region in the mid-16th
century, replacing Inca rule, but failed to conquer the
independent Mapuche people who inhabited what is now
south-central Chile. Chile emerged as a relatively stable
authoritarian republic in the 1830s after their 1818
declaration of independence from Spain. During the 19th
century, Chile experienced significant economic and
territorial growth, putting an end to Mapuche resistance
in the 1880s and gaining its current northern territory
in the War of the Pacific (1879–83) by defeating Peru and
Bolivia. In the 20th century, up until the 1970s, Chile
underwent a process of democratization and experienced
rapid population growth and urbanization, while relying
increasingly on exports from copper mining to support its
economy.[14][15] During the 1960s and 1970s, the country was
marked by severe left-right political polarization and turmoil,
which culminated in the 1973 Chilean coup d’état that overthrew
Salvador Allende’s democratically elected left-wing government.
This was followed by a 16-year right-wing military dictatorship
under Augusto Pinochet, which resulted in more than 3,000 deaths
or disappearances.[16] The regime ended in 1990, following a
referendum in 1988, and was succeeded by a center-left coalition,
which ruled until 2010.
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