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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile (help·info)), is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific forms the country"s entire western border, with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage at the country"s southernmost tip. Chile claims 1,250,000 km² of territory in Antarctica.
There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to one theory the Incas of Peru, who had failed to conquer the Araucanians, called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a tribal chief ("cacique") called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest.[1] Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili.[1] Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the indigenous Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends,"[2] "the deepest point of the Earth,"[3], or "sea gulls;"[4] or from the Quechua chin, "cold", or the Aymara tchili, meaning "snow."[5][6] Another meaning attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of a bird call.[2] The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro"s first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-36 called themselves the "men of Chilli."
Chile is divided into 13 regions,[10] each of which is headed by an intendente appointed by the President. Every region is further divided into provinces with a Gobernador Provincial, also appointed by the President. Finally each province is divided into communes (comunas).[11] which are administered by municipalities, each with its own mayor, and councilors, known as concejales elected by their inhabitants. Because the communes and the municipalities usually share the same name, the terms are popularly used interchangeably, even though in strict legal terms they are distinct.
Each region is designated by a name and a Roman numeral, assigned from north to south until the congress added two new regions in 2006. In general, the Roman numeral is used, rather than the name. The only exception is the region where Santiago is situated, which is designated RM, that stands for Región Metropolitana, Metropolitan Region.
In 2006, the Chilean congress created two new regions, one in the north, around the city of Arica, called Región XV de Arica y Parinacota (Arica-Parinacota Region), and one in the south centered around Valdivia, named Región XIV de los Ríos (Los Ríos Region).
Northern Chile was an important center of culture in the medieval and early modern Inca empire, while the central and southern regions were areas of Mapuche cultural activities. Through the colonial period following the conquest, and during the early Republican period, the country"s culture was dominated by the Spanish. Other European influences, primarily English and French, began in the 19th century and have continued until today
The national dance is the cueca. Another form of traditional Chilean song, though not a dance, is the tonada. Arising from music imported by the Spanish colonists, it is distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody. In the mid-1960s native musical forms were revitalized by the Parra family with the Nueva Canción Chilena, which was associated with political activists and reformers, and by the folk singer and researcher on folklore and Chilean ethnography, Margot Loyola.
Chileans call their country país de poetas—land of poets. Gabriela Mistral was the first Chilean to win a Nobel Prize for Literature (1945). Chile"s most famous poet, however, is Pablo Neruda, who also won the Nobel Prize (1971) and is world-renowned for his extensive library of works on romance, nature, and politics. His three highly individualistic homes, located in Isla Negra, Santiago and Valparaíso are popular tourist destinations.
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chily