One of my jobs at the university involves researching information about different countries. It’s smart to know a little background information about countries you want to visit. I thought, what an excellent series posting for Exploration Abroad! In this series, I will be giving a light summary of some amazing countries, with special attention to their flags or other national symbols. For Spanish-language countries, I will also be practicing my Spanish, so corrections are welcome :D!
The Country – El Pais
Located in South America, the Republic of Chile shares its eastern border with the Argentine Republic to the south and Bolivia to the north. Its western border consists of coastline bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The Republic’s capital is established in central Chile, in Santiago. Wholly located within the UTC-4 time zone, the country is one hour ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time.
Administratively, the country is divided into 15 regions or regiones. The country possesses a tripartite system of government consisting of a bicameral legislature (Congreso Nacional), a president, and an independent judiciary (Corte Suprema) appointed by both branches. The President is directly elected and acts both as chief of state and as head of government.
With an area of 756,102 sq km and a population of 17,067,369 (CIA, July 2011), Chile has a population density of about 22.6 inhabitants per sq km. Its major ethnic group is white-Amerindian, which comprises about 95% of the total population. Languages widely spoken in Chile include Mapudungun, and German, with Spanish having official status. The country is over 86% Christian.
The Flag – La Bandera
Star- La Estrella |
la unidad del estado y el hecho que el pais no esta una republica federal, pero una republica centralista.the unitary nature of the state as opposed to a federalist one like the U.S. |
Blue-Azul |
el cielothe sky |
White |
el nieve de las montañas de Andesthe snow of the Andes Mountains |
Red |
la sangre de los patriotas en la lucha para independenciathe blood of the patriots shed for Chilean independence |
Language
Getting Around Chile:
- Transportation Overview
- Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (Chile’s state railway company)
- Metro de Santiago (metropolitan rail in Santiago)
Culture
*The name of this country as pronounced in its official language, sounds like “CHEE-LAY” as opposed to the food “chili.”
Note: I originally posted some of the information included in this post at my university's studyabroad office website: http://studyabroad.ucf.edu
Exploration Abroad 