r Rio Lauca water rights; territorial claim in
Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine
claim

Climate: temperate; desert in north; cool and damp in south

Terrain: low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged Andes
in east

Natural resources: copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious
metals, molybdenum

Land use: 7% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 16% meadows and
pastures; 21% forest and woodland; 56% other; includes 2% irrigated

Environment: subject to severe earthquakes, active volcanism, tsunami;
Atacama Desert one of world's driest regions; desertification

Note: strategic location relative to sea lanes between
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

- People
Population: 13,082,842 (July 1990), growth rate 1.6% (1990)

Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 77 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Chilean(s); adjective--Chilean

Ethnic divisions: 95% European and European-Indian, 3% Indian, 2% other

Religion: 89% Roman Catholic, 11% Protestant, and small Jewish
population

Language: Spanish

Literacy: 94%

Labor force: 3,840,000; 38.6% services (including 12% government),
31.3% industry and commerce; 15.9% agriculture, forestry, and fishing;
8.7% mining; 4.4% construction (1985)

Organized labor: 10% of labor force (1989)

- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Chile

Type: republic

Capital: Santiago

Administrative divisions: 13 regions (regiones, singular--region);
Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo, Antofagasta, Araucania,
Atacama, Biobio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos,
Magallanes y Antartica Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana, Tarapaca,
Valparaiso

Independence: 18 September 1810 (from Spain)

Constitution: 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981;
amended 30 July 1989

Legal system: based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and
subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law; judicial review of
legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 18 September (1810)

Executive branch: president, Cabine