Name of the country: Republic of Chile
Flag: blue, white and red. The corner of the flag above the side of the flagpole is a blue square with a white five-pointed star in its center. The flag ground consists of two parallel rectangles of white and red. White is at the top and red at the bottom. The white part is equal to two thirds of the red part. The red color symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in Rancagua for the independence and freedom of Chile against the Spanish colonial forces. The white symbolizes the snow of the Andean peaks. Blue symbolizes the sea.
National Coat of Arms: The coat of arms is derived from the national flag. On the left side of the coat of arms is the Andean deer, on the right side is the American condor, and on the top is the feather of the American opossum in the same colors as the flag. At the bottom is the Chilean national flower, the "Gobierno" wild lily, a symbol of independence and freedom. The ribbon reads in Spanish, "The struggle is carried out by justice and by force".
The national tree: the Araucaria pine. It is a rare tree in the world. It is known as the "black pyramid".
Some Santiago citizens rallied in front of a statue of Allende in the city center to commemorate the Chilean Socialist's election as president in 1970
. Allende was killed in a 1973 military coup
.
The national flower: The "Gobbler's Love" wild lily (Corbivy) is a plant of the trumpet vine family. Flowers are red, occasionally white, 3-4 inches long, with firm petals as if coated with wax. It bears small, pepper-shaped fruits. Flowers bloom on vines that climb the trunks of trees. More common in southern Chile.
National Stone: Lapis Lazuli
National Dance: Cuenca
Independence Day: September 18, 1810
National Day: September 18, 1810
National Dignitaries: President Ricardo Lagos Escobar, elected in January 2000, sworn in in March of that year. He was sworn in in March of the same year. President-elect Michelle Bachelet, elected in January 2006, became the first woman president in Chilean history.
Physical geography: Area 756,626 square kilometers (of which 756,253 square kilometers of land and 373 square kilometers of islands). Located in the southwest of South America, the western foothills of the Andes. Neighboring Argentina in the east, bordering Peru and Bolivia in the north, the Pacific Ocean in the west, and Antarctica across the sea in the south. The total length of the coastline of about 10,000 kilometers, 4,352 kilometers from north to south, east and west of the narrowest 96.8 kilometers, the widest 362.3 kilometers, is the world's most narrow and long topography of the country. East for the western slope of the Andes, accounting for about 1 / 3 of the whole territory of the width of the east and west; West for the altitude of 300-2000 meters of the Coastal Range, most of the zone along the coast stretching, south into the sea, the formation of a large number of coastal islands; the central part of the alluvial sediments by the filling of the sunken valleys, the elevation of about 1,200 m above sea level. The territory is volcanic and prone to frequent earthquakes. The peak of Ojos del Salado, located on the border of Chile and Argentina, is 6,885 meters above sea level, the highest point in the country. There are more than 30 rivers in the country, the more important ones being the Bío Bío River. The main islands are Tierra del Fuego, Chiloé, Wellington Island, etc. The climate can be divided into three distinctly different sections: the northern section is mainly desert climate; the middle section is a subtropical Mediterranean-type climate with rainy winters and dry summers; and the south is a rainy temperate broad-leaved forest climate. Because it is located in the southernmost tip of the American continent, and Antarctica across the sea, Chileans often call their own country as "the end of the country".
Chilean honor guard soldiers
Cavalry of the Chilean Army passes by the Plaza de la Constitución, outside the presidential palace of La Moneda
Population: 15,116,000 (17th Census, 2002), with the urban population accounting for 86.6%. The urban population is 86.6%, of which 75% are Indo-European, 20% white, 4.6% Indian and 2% other. The official language is Spanish, and Mapuche is spoken in the Indian areas. Eighty-five percent of the population is Catholic and 12.4 percent is evangelical.
Capital: Santiago, located in central Chile, population 6.06 million (2002).
Administrative divisions: The country is divided into 13 regions, with 50 provinces and 341 municipalities. The names of the regions are as follows: Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, General Libertador O'Higgins, Maule, Bío Bío, Araucanía, Los Lagos, General Ibá?ez de Aysén, Magellanía, and the Metropolitan Region of Santiago.
Brief history: In early times the territory was inhabited by Araucanians, Tierra del Fuego, and other Indian peoples. it belonged to the Inca Empire until the beginning of the 16th century. in 1535, Spanish colonizers invaded the northern part of Chile from Peru. after the establishment of the city of Santiago in 1541, Chile became a Spanish colony and was subjected to its domination for nearly 300 years. on September 18, 1810, the Chilean Ruling Council was established, and it practiced self-government. In February 1817, a coalition army with Argentina defeated the Spanish colonial army, and on February 12, 1818, Chile formally declared independence and established the Chilean **** and State.
International Book Festival in Santiago. Chile is a major book publishing country in South America, with an annual average of more than
2,500 books published.
Constitution: In September 2005, Chile promulgated a new text of the Constitution, formally replacing the text promulgated during the Pinochet military government, which was a major commitment to reform and a historic step towards improving the country's democratic system. The new Constitution contains 58 substantive changes to the 1980 Constitution. ***The term of office of the President of the Republic will be reduced from six to four years, and the creation of senators for life and appointed senators in the Congress will be abolished, all of whom, like members of the Chamber of Deputies, will be democratically elected. In addition, the revised Constitution will give the President absolute leadership and command of the military and police, providing him with the power to remove the Commander-in-Chief of all branches of the armed forces and the police force, reversing the previous constitutional restriction on the irremovability of these positions. The National Security Council (NSC) will no longer be able to leapfrog the president's authority, transforming it into a national security advisory body under the president.
Economy: Chile is a medium-development country. Mining, forestry, fishing and agriculture are rich in resources and are the four pillars of the national economy. The country is rich in mineral, forest and aquatic resources, and is famous for its copper production, known as the "Copper Country". The proven copper reserves amount to more than 200 million tons, ranking first in the world, accounting for about 1/3 of the world's reserves, and copper production and exports are also the world's first. Iron reserves of about 1.2 billion tons, about 5 billion tons of coal. In addition, there are saltpeter, molybdenum, gold, silver, aluminum, zinc, iodine, petroleum, natural gas and so on. Abundant temperate forests with excellent wood quality, it is the first largest exporter of forest products in Latin America. The country is rich in fishery resources and is the fifth largest fishery country in the world. The industrial and mining industries are the lifeblood of the national economy; in 2001, the gross industrial output value was 572,205.6 million pesos, and the gross mining output value was 3,050,727 million pesos. In 2001, the total industrial output value was 572,205.6 million pesos, and the total mining output value was 3,050,727 million pesos, and the population employed in the industry and mining industry was 829,000 people, accounting for 14% of the total labor force. Cultivated land covers an area of 16,600 square kilometers. The country's forests cover an area of 15,649,000 hectares, accounting for 20.8 per cent of the country's land area. The main forest products are timber, pulp and paper. Chile is known as a trading nation with an open economy, and in 2003 its exports exceeded the 20 billion U.S. dollar mark for the first time, reaching 21.046 billion U.S. dollars.
The Giant Stone Statue on Easter Island, Chile
Press and Publication: There are 87 newspapers in the country. The main newspapers are The Courier, founded in 1827; The Nation, founded in 1980; The Three O'Clock, founded in 1950; The Two O'Clock (Evening News), founded in 1931; The Last Message, founded in 1902; the main magazines are The Event, founded in 1971; La Nueva Situa??o, founded in 1976; and Today, founded in 1977. The main news agency is the Universal News Agency. There are 1,095 radio stations in the country, the main ones being Radio Nacional, Televisión Cooperativa, Radio Portales, Radio Agrícola and Radio Mining. There are 9 television stations, of which the most influential are the National Television (7), the Television of the University of Chile (11), the Television of the Catholic University (13), the Television of the Great Vision (9) and the Television of the Catholic University of Valparaiso (5).
Culture and arts: It is one of the countries with high cultural and artistic standards in Latin America. There are 1,999 libraries in the country with a total collection of 17,907,000 books. There are 260 movie theaters. The capital city of Santiago is the center of cultural activities in the country, with 25 art galleries. The poet Gabriela Mistral was awarded the 1945 Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first South American writer to receive the prize. The poet Pablo Neruda was awarded the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Chile's Easter Island, located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, is famous for its mysterious giant statues. In February 1996, the island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with more than 600 huge ancient stone busts facing the sea.
Foreign affairs: pursues an independent and nationalistic foreign policy, following the principles of non-interference in internal affairs and self-determination of peoples.
Relations with China: On December 15, 1970, Chile became the first country in South America to establish diplomatic relations with China, and it was also the first Latin American country to complete the WTO accession negotiations with China. since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Chile and China in 1970, the relations between the two countries have been developing steadily. 2001, President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to Chile, and reached an agreement with President Lagos on the development of a long-term, stable and comprehensive partnership between the two countries for the twenty-first century, In November 2004, President Hu Jintao paid a state visit to Chile.