In news– Recently, Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric (35 year old) has won Chile’s presidential election to become the country’s youngest ever leader.
About Chile-
- The Republic of Chile is a country in the western part of South America.
- It occupies a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
- The Andes Mountains are the longest continental mountain range in the world.
- The capital is Santiago and Currency is Chilean peso.
- It is bounded on the north by Peru and Bolivia, on its long eastern border by Argentina, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.
- It exercises sovereignty over Easter Island, the Juan Fernández Archipelago, and the volcanic islets of Sala y Gómez, San Félix, and San Ambrosio, all of which are located in the South Pacific.
- Because of the country’s extreme length it has a wide variety of climates, from the coastal desert beginning in the tropical north to the cold subantarctic southern tip.
- Much of northern Chile is desert; the central part of the country is a temperate region where the bulk of the population lives and where the larger cities, including Santiago, are located.
- South-central Chile, with a lake and forest region, is temperate, humid, and suitable for grain cultivation.
- It was colonised by Spain, and the culture that evolved was largely Spanish.
- The major landforms of Chile are arranged as three parallel north–south units: the Andes mountains to the east; the intermediate depression, or longitudinal valley, in the centre; and the coastal ranges to the west.
- Major mountains of Chile are: Ojos del Salado (6893 meters), Tres Cruces, Llullaillaco, Tres Cruces Central, Incahuasi.
- Chile has one of the world’s largest income gaps, with 1% of the population owning 25% of the country’s wealth, according to the United Nations.