Chile, officially known as Republic of Chile, is a South American country with Peru, Bolivia Argentina as its neighboring countries. The Pacific Ocean borders it on the west and south. Santiago is both its capital and the largest city. The country is primarily urban as 1/3 of the total population inhabits the areas in and around Santiago and Vina Del Mar. Almost ninety percent of the Chileans are Roman Catholics whereas Spanish is the official language of the country ("Chile," 2012). This country in South America has a landscape filled with "dry deserts, snow-capped mountains, sandy beaches, and thick temperate rain forests" (Rau, 2007).
The climate in the country is as varied as its natural features. Aside from the apparently intense climatic conditions in some parts, the country enjoys a comfy and moderate climate ("Chile").
History
The southern part of the Chilean region was controlled by the Araucanians long before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. On the other hand, the northern part of the land was under the control of the Inca Empire. In 1536, Francisco Pizarro sent Diego de Almagro from Peru for exploring the southern region. However, he was not successful in establishing a foothold in Chile. After four years, Pedro de Valdivia entered Chile and was successful in founding Santiago in 1541 in spite of solid confrontation by the Araucanians. Later, he also founded La Serena, Concepcion, and Valdivia. Thus, after an early period of relentless armed conflict with the inhabitants, the Spanish became successful in suppressing the native populace ("Chile," 2012).
Throughout most of the colonial era, Chile was reliant on the viceroyalty of Peru. However, it became a disconnected partition practically autonomous of Peru in 1778. After independence, the nonspecific territorial limits became the cause of prolonged border line disagreements with Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Led by Juan Martinez de Rozas and Bernardo O'Higgins, the movements for an independent homeland were started in 1810 ("Chile," 2012).
The mutually elected supreme director, O'Higgins, officially announced the independence of Chile on February12, 1818 at Talca. He also was successful in establishing a military autocracy that portrayed the republic's politics until 1833. O'Higgins ruled the country from 1818 until 1823 after which he resigned as he faced strong opposition from a majority of people due to his despotic policies. A government that was devoid of any egalitarian forms was then established by the army. However, the centralistic constitution of 1833 was designed by Diego Portales that later helped Chile to experience the slow but sure surfacing of parliamentary government and an extended period of stability ("Chile," 2012).
In 1866, the Peru-Spain war involved Chile. This involvement led the republic to make its coast stronger and assemble a navy. Later, in the earlier 1900s, industrialization in the country began that raised Chile to a leading position among South American nations in next to no time. However, despite the fact that during 1926-1931 Chile enjoyed economic prosperity, the country underwent the negative consequences of the world economic depression due to its reliance on mineral exports and unpredictable world markets ("Chile," 2012).
In 1945, Chile declared war on Japan. Next year, Gabriel Gonzalez Videla was elected as the Chilean president. Later in 1964, Eduardo Frei Montalva became the president and made advancements and progression in land reform, education, housing, and labor. After six years, Salvador Allende Gossens became the first Marxist president in 1970. After Allende's death, the control of the country was taken over by Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte who became the undisputed leader of Chile. During his leadership, the unemployment and labor unrest in the country increased. In the earlier phase of 1980s, the country again experienced a recession due to which there was a significant increase in the foreign debt ("Chile," 2012).
In 1989, Patricio Aylwin Azocar was elected as the new president of Chile under whose leadership, "Chile again turned toward democracy; the country's economy strengthened, as its exports were increased and its debt lowered" ("Chile," 2012). Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle became the country's next president in 1994. His free-market policies caused a substantial flow of foreign investment in the country. In 2000, Ricardo Lagos Escobar became the country's first Socialist president ever since Allende. In 2006, Michelle Bachelet became the first woman Chilean president. The center-left rule of 20 years ended in 2010 with Pinera's success ("Chile," 2012).
Food
Food has been given a very extraordinary place in Chile's culture. It is a normal Chilean practice to take four meals a day. Breakfast is the first meal which generally comprised of toasted buttered bread and instant...
Such practices led to the growth of foreign loans and investment to Chile, which were stopped during Allende's office, but at the same time it led to the domination of foreign capital in economy sector and weaking positions of national production. Mining industry was privatized by big American corporations, which restored their traditional influence in this sector: Pinochet's neoliberal economic policies' benefits have been sharply contested. In 1973, unemployment was
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