CHILE, a republic of South America, bounded on the N. by Peru, E. by Bo livia and the Argentine Renublie. S. and fagasta, 56,295. Santiago, the capital, is beautifully laid out and adorned with ca thedrals, parks, and imposing public buildings. It has two universities. Val paraiso is the chief seaport and is a handsome and thriving city.
Topography.—The Andes extend in two parallel lines throughout nearly the entire length of the country. Between these two ranges of the "Cordillera" there is a central valley or tableland which attains its greatest breadth be tween 33° and 40° S. The streams in the N. are of little importance, being mostly shallow brooks; in the S. they are larger and more numerous, though most are navigable for only a few miles. The principal rivers are the Maipu, which waters the valley of Santiago; the Maule; the Biobio, the largest river in the country; the Cautin, or Rio Impe rial; the Bueno, and the Callecalle, or Rio de Valdivia (100 miles), the most important of all, because of the sheltered harbor at its mouth. In the S. are also many deep lakes, such as Llanquihue (30 miles long by 22 broad) and Ranco (32 by 18 miles). The most important is lands are those constituting the province of Chiloe; Juan Fernandez also belongs to Chile. Owing to its great extension from N. to S., Chile comprises regions of very different nature and climate. The N. provinces are arid, rainless dis tricts, where the principal industry is mining and extraction of saltpeter. The middle and S. provinces are agricultural and viticultural, and have also valuable coal fields. The Patagonian region is densely wooded and sparsely inhabited by a few Indians. The Andes are al most everywhere visible, covered with perpetual snow. The highest peak is Aconcagua, 22,867 feet. The average height of the range is 8,000 feet. There are many volcanic peaks, mostly extinct. Among these may be mentioned Tupun gato, Descabezado, Chillan, Osorno, and Villa Rica. Chile is subject to frequent shocks of earthquakes, and occasionally to destructive floods. The most notable of seismic movements recorded was in 1822, when the coast near Valparaiso was thrown up permanently between 3 and 4 feet; this elevation extended over 100,000 square miles. In 1835 Concep
cion and Talcahuano were destroyed by a fearful earthquake which produced dis aster all over the southern provinces.
- - W. by the Pacific Ocean; area, 290,829 square miles. In 1918 the population was 3,945,538. Some of the leading towns had the following population in 1916: Santiago, 397,550; Valparaiso, 201,507; Concepcion, 68,902; Iquique, 45,502; Talque, 41,618; Chillan, 38,543; 30-V Climate and Productions.—The climate of Chile is temperate. In the N. it is moderately hot and rainless, but banks of clouds always hang overhead, and heavy dew falls at night. In the S. it is dry for about eight months of the year, and rainy the other four. The tempera ol.
ture is remarkably .2ven and pleasant, and always cool at night. The S. wind blows fiercely during many days of sum mer, dry and cold; the N. wind brings heat, tempest, and rain; other winds are unknown. Central Chile, between lat. 32° and 36°, is fertile. In southern Chile generally the land is poor, and on account of excessive rain Jf hardly any value for agriculture, which, indeed, is carried on in a very primitive fashion, but the soil of the valleys, where large herds of cattle graze, is very fertile. Vines, also, grow well on the Maipu and Mapocho plains and on the hillsides, and the wines of the country are superseding in Chile the French red wines. Wheat and vine yard products are the chief staples, but maize, hemp, barley, beans, and various root edibles are extensively cultivated. There are 95,000,000 acres of arable land and 39,362,100 acres of forest land. The farms under cultivation were 91,309 in 1916. Large irrigation canals now in process of construction will have a marked effect on agricultural production. The principal source of Chilean prosper ity is the nitrate industry. Vast depos its of sodium nitrate exist in the desert of Atacama. The zone has an area G..: 200,000 square kilometers, of which only about 3 per cent. has been surveyed and the contents estimated. But in this frac tion of the entire area 290,300,000 tons exist, of which about 50,000,000 tons have been extracted. The exports of nitrate in 1917 were 60,800,000 quintals (a quin tal being 104.4 pounds).