ALM UNDP

Chile’s territory is located in South America, the Antarctic and in the Pacific Ocean, which accounts for its great geologic, climatic and biological diversity. For geographic reasons, Chile is separated from the rest of South America: to the north by the Atacama desert (the world’s most arid desert); to the East, the Andes mountain range; to the West, the Pacific Ocean; and to the South, the Antarctic ice caps. This geographic isolation and the fact that it spans over 40° latitude from its northernmost to southernmost points bestow upon Chile very peculiar climatic characteristics, since Chile contains subtropical climates as well as sub-Antarctic and Antarctic climates.

Chile’s continental territory is located between 17º30' y 56º30' latitude south, on the western edge of South America. The total surface area is 2,006,096 square kilometers, of which 756,096 square kilometers correspond to continental Chile and its ocean territories and 1,250,000 km 2 to the Chilean Antarctic Territory. Continental Chile spans 4,300 kilometers from north to south. The average east-west distance is 232.5 km, making Chile the longest and narrowest country in the world. (Figure 4.1).

Its coastal waters cover approximately 120,000 sq. kilometers (not including its Antarctic territory). Chile’s territorial sea places Chile among the countries with the most extensive ocean territory with some 3,150,000 sq. kilometers. Furthermore, the State of Chile has sovereign rights over the Exclusive Economic Area (200 nautical miles) for the use, exploration, conservation and administration of the natural resources of the sea-bed and subsoil and the underlying waters.

Chile is divided into 13 administrative regions, from the First Region of Tarapacá in the north to the Twelfth Region of Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctic in the south. The great length of the country, the natural barriers formed by the mountain ranges and by the subtropical ocean currents in the north and the polar currents in the south provide Chile with its great biological and climatic diversity that can be seen not just from north to south but also from east to west.

The estimated population of Chile in 1998 was 14,821,714, with an average annual growth rate of 1.4%.