in the center; design was based on the US flag

Geography
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Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic
Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru

Geographic coordinates: 30 00 S, 71 00 W

Map references: South America

Area:
total area: 756,950 sq km
land area: 748,800 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana
note: includes Isla de Pascua (Easter Island) and Isla Sala y Gomez

Land boundaries:
total: 6,171 km
border countries: Argentina 5,150 km, Bolivia 861 km, Peru 160 km

Coastline: 6,435 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: short section of the southern boundary
with Argentina is indefinite; Bolivia has wanted a sovereign
corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost
to Chile in 1884; dispute with Bolivia over Rio Lauca water rights;
territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory)
partially overlaps Argentine and British claims

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

Terrain: low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged
Andes in east
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,962 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 16%
forest and woodland: 21%
other: 56%

Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions;
water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation contributing to loss
of biodiversity; soil erosion; desertification
natural hazards: severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea

Geographic note: strategic location relative to sea lanes between
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel,
Drake Passage); Atacama Desert is one of world's driest regions

People
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Population: 14,333,258