Chile

=**Chile**= = =

media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=chile&sll=-20.550509,-36.123047&sspn=60.571405,134.912109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Chile&ll=-20.550509,-36.123047&spn=53.739168,134.912109&z=4&output=embed" width="425" height="350" =**About the flag:**= The white in the Chile flag is for the snow of the Andes. The Red in the Chile Flag is to represents the Patriots blood who fought in the war for independence. The blue in the flag stands for the skies. (3) =Geography= Situated south of Peru and west of Bolivia and Argentina, Chile fills a narrow 2,880-mile strip between the Andes and the Pacific. One-third of Chile is covered by the towering ranges of the Andes. The north is the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert. At the southern tip of Chile's mainland is Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the world, and beyond that lies the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, an island divided between Chile and Argentina. The southernmost point of South America is Cape Horn, a 1,390-foot rock on Horn Island, which belongs to Chile. Chile also claims sovereignty over 482,628 sq miles of Antarctic territory; the Juan Fernández Islands, and Easter Island. (2) =Government= Republic. (2) =History= About 10,000 years ago, migrating Indians settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. Chile was originally under the control of the Incas in the north and the nomadic Araucanos in the south. In 1541, a Spaniard, Pedro de Valdivia, founded Santiago. Chile won its independence from Spain in 1818 under Bernardo O'Higgins and an Argentinian, José de San Martin. O'Higgins, dictator until 1823, laid the foundations of the modern state with a two-party system and a centralized government. (2) * Religions: 1. Roman Catholic 89% 2. Protestant 11% * Notable cities: 1. Puente Alto 790,658 People 2. Antofagasta 353,439 People = = = = = = = = =Major News:= 1. The remains of President Salvador Allende were exhumed and a second autopsy will be conducted to determine if he shot himself during a coup as his family has long believed. Long ruled a suicide, Salvador Allende’s death during a 1973 coup is questioned by some politicians and rights groups.(4) 2. A magnitude-8.8 earthquake on Feb. 27, 2010, one of the most powerful earthquakes on record, devastated the country, which has some of the strictest building codes on the continent. A quake measuring 7.2 jolted the inauguration ceremony of the new president, Sebastián Piñera, on March 11, a day that saw at least three major tremors. (4) 3. Some of the 33 miners who were trapped underground for two months began ascending to the surface, beginning the end of a rescue operation that has inspired the nation and riveted the world. (4) ||  ||
 * [[image:http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/clnewzzz.gif width="344" height="963"]]media type="youtube" key="XGecqHnN2gQ" height="349" width="425" ||  ||
 * * Capital: Santiago * Population:17,569,945  * Region: South America  * Languages: Spanish  * Currency: 1 Peso = $1

Works Cited (1)[]

(2) [] (3)http://www.flags-flags-flags.org.uk/chile-flag.htm (4)[]

Massimo Serra and Maximilliano Flores