Moving to Chile

The Republic of Chile is a long, narrow strip of land in South America, west of the Andes.

Chile shares a border with Peru in the north, Argentina in the east and Bolivia in the northeast.

It is the southernmost country in the world and closest to Antarctica, of which it used to claim a large part.

Several islands in the Pacific Ocean are also part of Chile, such as the famous Easter Island.

Chile used to be a Spanish colony, until its independence in 1818.

As per usual with this sort of country, it had a very rough history, but in the early 20^th century a process of democratization started, until the US interfered and “helped” the 1973 coup which overthrew the democratically elected government of Allende, installing the dictator and mass murderer Pinochet, who remained in power until 1990.

Right now, Chile is still a developing country, but is certainly also a high income economy.

In fact, it is one of the most economically and socially stable nations in South America, with the lowest homicide rate in the Americas after Canada.

It has a low perception of corruption, high levels of economic freedom and human development, mostly due to its independent and efficient judicial system and prudent public finance management.

Chile ranks 3^rd in Latin America (behind Uruguay and Panama) in nominal GDP per capita.

Unlike countries such as Paraguay who mind their own business, Chile has an active involvement in foreign affairs, and to date the US still has heavy influence in this country.

While Chile keeps diplomatic relations with most countries, it still has some minor border disputes with Argentina and Bolivia.

The capital is Santiago, and while Chile is pretty large, barely 20 million people call it their home.

This country has over 10 different climatic subtypes (because it stretches so far from north to south): the world’s driest desert in the north, a Mediterranean climate in the middle and an oceanic climate (tundra and glaciers) in the south.

There are many distinct landscapes to be found, such as deserts, mountains, beaches, forests, and so on.

Chile lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a highly seismic and volcanic zone, which means earthquakes.

Chileans are pretty “white”, and the vast majority of them would self-identify as such.

Spanish is the official language, with a heavy accent. 

English is mandatory for students, but the average English proficiency is still only Moderate.

Better than many other Latin American countries, but certainly not ideal.