With the recent earthquake in Chile, the media (including the blogs) have turned their attention to Chile. Since I teach a course in the Geography of World Regions, I thought I would provide some background on Chile.
History:
Prior to the coming of the Spanish, northern Chile was under the rule of the Inka empire. Central and southern Chile was occupied by an indigenous group, the Mapuche.
The battle for independence from Spain started in 1810 and was achieved in 1818. In the late nineteenth century (1879-1882) Chile was involved in the War of the Pacific. In this war, Chile defeated Bolivia and as a consequence Bolivia lost its outlet to the sea. While Peru had been a Chilean ally during the war, at the end of the war Chile seized its present-day northern territory from Peru.
In 1973, a democratically elective government headed by Salvador Allende was overthrown in a military coup assisted by the United States. Augusto Pinochet was then installed as a brutal dictator. Pinochet saw himself as the selfless defender of God and country against atheistic communism. Thus he won favor in the United States during the cold war era. The Economist (Dec 16, 2006, p. 12) writes of Dictator Augusto Pinochet:
"He presided over a viciously effective police state and came to personify a whole era of bloody despotism during the latter stages of the cold war."
Pinochet had thousands of opposition supporters rounded up: 3,200 were murdered and more than 30,000 were tortured.
In 1990, Chile returned to democracy. Michelle Bachelet Jeria has been President since 11 March 2006. During the Pinochet reign, she was one of the thousands who was tortured. She is the first woman elected President in Chile.
President Bachelet, an agnostic, is a pediatrician. Forbes Magazine ranks her as 22nd in the list of 100 most powerful women in the world. Time Magazine ranks her as 15th on its list of the most influential people in the world. Her mother was an archaeologist and her father an air force general.
Population:
Chile has a total population of about 16.6 million (as compared with 307 million in the U.S.). Chile is actually more urbanized than the U.S. with 88% living in cities as compared with 82% in the U.S.
The U.S. and Chile have similar life expectancy rates: 78 and 77 respectively. Both countries have nearly universal literacy.
Chile is a European-heritage country with very little indigenous population. With regard to religion it is 70% Roman Catholic, 15% Evangelical Christian, and 1% Jehovah’s Witness.
Economics:
Chile has a fairly strong economy which is characterized by a high level of foreign trade. Chile’s major export partners include the U.S. (16%), Japan (11%), China (9%), Netherlands (7%), and South Korea (6%). The primary export products include copper, fruit, fish products, paper and pulp, chemicals, and wine.
While Chile has South America’s most successful economy, women earned 19% less than men in 2003.
A new labor code for the public sector forbids pregnancy tests, removes mention of a candidate’s sex from job applications, and requires training during normal working hours.