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Chile covers an area of approximately 756,620 square kilometers (excluding
the Antarctic Territory with an area of approximately 1,250,000 square
kilometers).
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Chile's population, industry and arable land are mainly concentrated in
the central valley, which includes the nation's capital and largest city,
Santiago, and in its two largest ports, San Antonio and Valparaiso. Chile's
population is approximately 14.8 million, and according to the most recent
national census in 1992, grew at an average annual rate of 1.6% from 1982
to 1992. It is highly urbanized population, with approximately 85% living
in cities in 1998. More of them 45% of Chile's urban dwellers reside in
the Santiago metropolitan area, which includes the capital and the surrounding
region. The Chilean population has a 95% literacy rate, and Spanish is
the official language.
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Continental Chile occupies a narrow strip of land, with an average width
of 177 kilometers, extending approximately 4,270 kilometers along South
America's west coast. Its borders are with Peru in the north, the Antarctic
Territory in the south, Bolivia and Argentina in the east and the Pacific
Ocean in the west. Continental Chile's geography is dominated by a low
range of Pacific coastal mountains in the west, the Andes in the east and
a valley that lies between these two ranges. Southern Chile is an archipelago,
with Cape Hom at its tip. Chile's territory also includes several islands,
including Easter Island, Juan Fernández Island and Sala y Gómez
Islands.
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Continental Chile has five well-defined geographic regions: the northern
desert, the high Andean sector, the central valley, the southern lake district
and the archipelago region. Outside the urban areas, approximately 21%
of the land is forested. The remainder consists primarily of agricultural
areas, deserts and mountains. The northern desert region is rich in various
mineral resources. The climate is dry and hot in the north, temperate
in the central regions and cool and wet in the south. This variety offers
a plurality of options: adventure tourism, fishing, skiing, rafting, hiking
in the mountain slopes, swimming in lakes o beaches or the night life in
the big cities.
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