Geography |
The Republic of Chile is bounded on the north by Peru, on the east by Bolivia and Argentina and on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Long but narow, it stretches 4 270 km from north to south but only 427 km wide at its widest point. The country has a total area of 756 626 km2.
Chile is a land of great variety, ranging from the dry Atacama Desert in the north to the cold, stormy south. The Andes Mountains form Chile´s backbone, while lower mountains line the Pacific coast. A series of fertile river basins called the Central Valley lies between the mountain ranges in central Chile.
Chile can be divided into three regions from north to south: the Northern Desert, the Central Valley, and the Archipelago.
The Northern Desert stretches 1 690 km south from the Peruvian border to the Aconcagua River, just north of Valparaiso. The Atacama desert, one of the driest places on earth, covers the northern half of the region. The land becomes slightly less arid area to the south. The Andes are widest and highest in this region, with elevations beyond 6 100 m, including the country´s highest peak, Ojos del Salado, 6 880 m.
The Central Valley extends about 970 km from the Aconcagua River to the city of Puerto Montt. Industry, agriculture, and most of the nation´s population are concentrated in this region. The central Andes are narrower with lower elevations.
The Archipelago extends about 1 600 km from Puerto Montt to the southernmost tip of South America, Cape Horn. It is a wild, windswept region of steep, rocky slopes, dense forests, glaciers, and lakes. The region´s western edge is broken into thousands of islands. In the far south, the Strait of Magellan separates mainland Chile from the group of islands known as Tierra del Fuego. Cape Horn is the southernmost point of the continent. Elevations in the southern Andes seldom exceed about 1 800 m.
Chile owns several small islands in the Pacific, including Easter Island and the Juan Fernández group.
Most rivers are relatively short, generally rising in the Andes and flowing west to the Pacific. The most important are the Loa, Elqui, Aconcagua, Maipo, Maule, Biobío and Imperial. There are a number of major lakes, including Lake Llanquihue, in the southern region.
Because of its great range of latitude and elevation, Chile has a variety of climates. The northern region is almost entirely desert and may not have rain for years. Temperatures, however, are moderated by the offshore Humboldt Current. Average temperatures at Antofagasta range from 17 º to 24 º C in January and from 11º to 17º C in July.
The Central Valley has a mild, Mediterranean type of climate, with dry summers and rainy winters. Santiago receives about 360 mm of rain annually. Temperatures in the city average from 12º 29º C in January to 3º to 15º C in July.
Frequent cold, stormy weather characterises the Archipelago. In Puerto Montt, temperatures average 15º C in January and 8º C in July. The city´s average annual precipitation is 2 180 mm, but parts of the Archipelago receive up to 5 000 mm of rain a year, much of it in the form of snow in the far south.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.