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Revision as of 06:16, 12 February 2002 by Chato (talk | contribs) (+ beautiful chilean flag, flower and symbol)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Republic of Chile, or La República de Chile, is a republic located on the southwestern coast of South America. The capital is Santiago. The national anthem is Himno Nacional.
The national flag is white, blue and red with one star. Blue represents the sky, white represents the snow of the mountains and red the blood of patriots that fought for the independence. The single star stresses the fact that Chile is an unitarian republic, not a federation:
The national flower is the copihue, that lives in the woods in the southern part of Chile:
The shield-of-arms depicts the two national animals: the Cóndor (a very large bird that lives in the mountains) and the Huemul (an animal that lives in the woods). It also has the legend Por la razon o la fuerza, venceremos (By reason or strength, we will prevail):
A Spanish colony until the 1810s, after gaining its independence, Chile has had a remarkably stable institutional life, with only a handful of interruptions, the longest and most recent being the government of Augusto Pinochet.
The population is mostly mestizo, with some remaining of the original ethnias still living in the south, Easter Island, and in the mountains in the north. Other minor ethnical groups include the contribution of some more recent european migration, mostly from germany.
The climate varies widely from subtropical in the north, passing by the most arid desert in the world, the Atacama Desert, through a fertile valley in the center, to a cold and damp south, originally covered by forest. The Mediterranean quality of the central valley made it ideal for the cultivation of table fruits, that are one of the main exports, and the production of wine, also a growing export.
The level of education is high, and Chileans are proud of having two winners of the Nobel Prize in literature: Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda.
From the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Not Wikified.