Chile – education
The Chilean education system is made up of a compulsory basic education for the 6-14-year-olds, youth education for the 15-18-year-olds and then higher education. In addition, there is a pre-school, éducación parvularia, with both social and educational content. The Catholic Church has practiced and still exercises significant influence at all levels of education. Illiteracy is low under South American conditions, below 6% for school children and 6.6% for the population over the age of 15 (1990). Educational goals for the decade 1990-2000 are basic education for all and equality in terms of educational opportunities. The language of instruction is Spanish.
The primary school, éducación general básica, is divided into two four-year courses, the first focusing on general knowledge and skills, while the next includes an incipient specialization.
The youth educations, éducación media, were divided in 1965 into a general study-preparatory and a vocational-preparatory branch, from 1981 with a common two-year module; Vocational training includes trade, industry, agriculture and engineering.
The higher education, éducación superior, is built around universities, technology, seminars and nursing schools. After a turbulent period in the 1970’s, they are growing steadily and have 224,000 students and 15,000 teachers (1989). The largest university is the state-owned Universidad de Chile in Santiago.
OFFICIAL NAME: Chile
CAPITAL CITY: Santiago
POPULATION: 16,300,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 736,900 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Spanish, mapudungun and few other Native American languages
RELIGION: Catholics 89%, Protestants 11%
COIN: pesos
CURRENCY CODE: CLP
ENGLISH NAME: Chile
INDEPENDENCE: 1818
POPULATION COMPOSITION: mestizer 65%, white 30%, Indians (especially mapuche) 3%, others 2%
GDP PER residents: 5747 $ (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 75 years, women 81 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.859
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 38
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .cl
Chile is a Republic of South America, a very long and narrow country on the continent’s Pacific coast; it stretches over 4000 km from Peru in the north to Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) in the south. A number of islands in the Pacific Ocean, with Easter Island (Rapa Nui) as the most famous, belong to Chile. Traditionally, Chile has also claimed a sector of Antarctica, but this claim is not pursued.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as CI which stands for Chile.
Chile – Constitution
Since the new constitution came into force in 1981 following a referendum, it has undergone several amendments. The executive power lies with the president, who is elected by direct universal suffrage for six years and cannot be re-elected immediately. The president appoints the government; he has no right of dissolution vis-à-vis the two chambers of the National Assembly, which have the legislative power. The Chamber of Deputies has 120 members elected for four years, the Senate 36 elected for eight years. Amendments to the constitution can be implemented with the support of 2/3of the members of the two chambers. The National Security Council, which aims to ensure democratic order in crisis situations, consists of the President, the Chief of the Armed Forces and the Chief of Police, the President of the Senate and the President of the Supreme Court, and five non-voting ministers.
In 1991, Chile’s 12 regions and the metropolitan area gained the right to elected governments. Check youremailverifier for Chile social condition facts.
Chile – political parties
After independence, the Chileans received political inspiration from either Spain, France or the United States and formed conservative, liberal, federalist or centralist parties. The conservatives represented the trade and agricultural oligarchy, while the liberals based in industry and mining were in charge of modernizing the country. A radical party was formed in 1861 with supporters from the middle class, and it worked to improve the position of women. In 1912 the Communist Party was formed, in 1933 the undogmatic Socialist Party, both in connection with a growing working class and critical intellectuals. The national phalanx was formed in 1938 with a social, Catholic policy; it became a major part of the Christian Democratic Party, which emerged in 1957. It had a land reform on the program and was further strengthened with the reform of the Catholic Church after the 2nd Vatican Council; as a reaction, the old conservatives and liberals united in the 1960’s in the National Party. Members from here were given leading positions under Pinochet’s dictatorship after 1973, when the parties were banned.
The Cuban Revolution in 1965 inspired the founding of the left-revolutionary MIR, rooted in university students, slum dwellers and poor peasants. However, the struggle against the dictatorship under Pinochet helped to unite the parties.
From March 1987, all parties again became legal; the Marxists, however, only in 1989. To ensure a peaceful transition to democracy, the “No Command” was formed in 1988, later the Democratic Association, which consists of four parties: the Christian Democrats, led by Chile’s current president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the Party for Democracy, the Radical Party and the Socialist Party. The revolutionary left wing with the Communists and the MIR have only insignificant parliamentary representation. The right wing consists of two parties, which represents old Pinochet supports.
Chile – economy
Chile’s economy was in the 1970’s and 1980’s marked by social upheaval and debt crisis, but since the late 1980’s the country has had the best functioning economy in Latin America. Growth rates have been high, inflation relatively low and the debt burden reduced; the same is true of the formerly violent dependence on copper exports. In economic policy, the development of infrastructure as well as the health and education sectors have been given higher priority. Chile is South America’s richest country with the longest life expectancy, but like the other states in the region, it is characterized by unemployment and high income inequality.
In 1970, the Socialist government of Salvador Allende introduced extensive state control over economic activity, resulting in increased consumption and welfare, but also commodity shortages, high inflation, capital flight, balance of payments problems, and political polarization. Major US banks stopped lending and did not resume it until after the military coup in 1973. Now a monetarist-inspired liberalization of the economy followed with major social costs: rising unemployment and falling real wages. During a currency reform in 1976, the currency unit escudo was replaced by the peso. A series of minor devaluations followed, after which the currency of 1979-82 was held against the dollar. In the late 1970’s, the economy was recovering again, but a new severe downturn set in after the second oil crisis in 1979. International lending rates rose sharply, while copper prices, on which Chile was so dependent (copper accounted for more than 80% of exports in the early 1970’s), fell sharply. Competitiveness was sought to be improved through e.g. a sharp devaluation of the peso in 1982, but debt problems rose so rapidly that Chile had to ask the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for financial support and creditors for a debt restructuring.
The consideration of the balance of payments led to both a more protectionist trade policy and a reorientation of monetary policy, which since 1982 has been based on a continuous depreciation of the peso against the dollar roughly in line with developments in the inflation differential with major trading partners. Trade policy was only eased towards the end of the 1980’s, when the economy was once again in a solid growth trajectory and debt problems had been reduced considerably.
Despite the fact that the trade balance has often shown nice profits, the interest payments on the external debt are so large that the balance of payments is in deficit annually. When this has not resulted in new debt problems, it is partly due to the fact that exports and GDP have risen stronger than the external debt, and partly that the country’s international liquidity has been strengthened through foreign investment and credit.
Chile’s main trading partners are the United States, Brazil, China and South Korea. It has free trade agreements with the EU (from 2003) and a number of other countries, including USA and China. Regionally, Chile is a member of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), and the country is an associate member of the Latin American single market, Mercado Común del Cono Sur (MERCOSUR). Finally, in 1994, Chile became a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
In 2005, Denmark’s exports to Chile amounted to DKK 605 million. DKK, while imports amounted to 964 mill. kr.
Chile – social conditions
The social conditions are worst for farm workers and especially for the disadvantaged half a million Mapuche Indians in the southern parts of Central Chile. In the capital, there are clear disparities between the large slums and the flashy prosperous neighborhoods. Yet more Chileans have access to clean drinking water (98%) and sewerage (78%) than other Latin Americans.
The immigration of German and Central European colonists in the 1800’s. has contributed to a conscious trade union movement. After the severe political and wage setbacks during the military dictatorship of 1973-90, which were often avoided by Chile’s socially conscious Catholic Church, the conditions of wage workers are slowly improving.
In 1981, employees’ pension funds were privatized. In the past, they had often been used for other social purposes. Employees ‘payments, which are state-guaranteed, can now be moved according to the banks’ offers. The scheme has been sought to be emulated in other Latin American countries.
Discriminatory laws against women, total ban on abortion and imprisonment for remarriage within nine months of the husband’s death are being abolished.
Chile – health conditions
Chilean women give birth on average. 2.7 children (1991), a decrease from 4.0 in 1970. The mortality rate for children under one year is 15 ‰ (1991) against 78 ‰ in 1970. Life expectancy has increased from 55 years in 1960 to 72 years in 1992. Mortality of cancer is close to European values with approximately 20% of all deaths. Deaths due to heart disease occur less frequently than in Europe and amount to approximately 20%. Cerebral hemorrhage, etc. causes approximately 10% of all deaths, a larger proportion than in Europe. Tropical diseases rarely occur.
Chile spends 6% of its GDP on healthcare, almost as in Denmark. approximately 2/3 of the agents come from public funds. The country has just over 1 doctor and 0.4 nurses per. 1000 residents The hospital service has on average. 3.2 beds per 1000 residents, approximately half as many as in Denmark.
The state of health is worse in rural areas than in cities; for example, the infant mortality rate of the most disadvantaged region is twice that of Santiago. Resources for health care are also unequally distributed, at least to rural areas.
Chile – military
The peacekeeping force of the armed forces is (2006) 78,100, of which 22,400 conscripts. The Army (Ejército de Chile) has 47,700, the Navy (Armada de Chile) 19,400, the Air Force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile) 11,000. In addition, 38,000 in paramilitary police (Cuerpo de Carabineros). The training period for conscripts is 12-22 months. The reserve force is 50,000, all for the army. All three defenses have an older but still usable armament. Chile, for example, has bought used equipment from the Netherlands; Leopard 1 tanks, M- and L-class frigates and F-16 aircraft. Army equipment is relatively light. The units are adapted to the mountainous conditions of the country.
Bolivia still claims the Atacama Corridor to the Pacific, which Chile conquered in the Nitrogen War (1879-84).
Chile – mass media
Chile’s first newspaper, the conservative El Mercurio, was founded in 1827 and is Latin America’s oldest, still existing daily newspaper. Until the military coup in 1973, there was freedom of the press. Until the mid-1980’s, several newspapers were banned and a number of journalists were arrested by the regime. During this period, the opposition press emerged, which in 1988 again gained formal access to the media in step with the beginning of democratization. The majority of Chile’s 37 dailies are published in Santiago and Valparaíso, and are predominantly bourgeois newspapers. The two largest, La Tercera de la Hora and Las Ultimas Noticias, are published in respectively. 170,000 and 150,000 copies. The only major newspaper to the left of center is La Época (1987-), published in 50,000 copies.
The radio in Chile is privately owned, and there are approximately 150 advertising-financed stations, of which only a few are nationwide. In the early 1990’s, small local radio stations sprang up in the larger cities as an essential part of popular participation in the democratization process. The country has an average of one radio per. 3.1 residents (1991). In addition to one state-owned television channel, Television Nacional de Chile, there are four commercial channels. One in four Chileans own a television set (1989).
Chile – art and architecture
Chile’s pre-colonial population was influenced by the Tiahuanaco civilization and later by the Incas. In the south, the Araukans dominated, leaving behind cave paintings, ritual masks, knives, pots and simple stone sculptures. On Easter Island, whose culture was connected with the Polynesian, there are enigmatic 3-15 m high human heads, carved in volcanic rock.
Frequent earthquakes have destroyed many of the colonial-era buildings, such as Santiago’s first cathedral. After the earthquake of 1647, the city was rebuilt in a simple Spanish-American style with houses with small courtyards. Only the Renaissance church of San Francisco from the 1600’s. has retained its original design. The Italian Joaquin Toesca (1745-99) introduced a neoclassical style in the Presidential Palace Casa de la Moneda in Santiago.
The national art of painting was started by José Gil de Castro (1785-1841) during the period of independence after 1818. In the 1930’s, the impressionist artist group Montparnasse was formed, but only with the surrealist Roberto Matta did Chile’s modern art gain international fame. In recent times, one can highlight the painters Carlos Bravo (b. 1936) and Gonzalo Díaz (b. 1947) as well as the concept artists Eugenio Dittborn (b. 1943) and Alfredo Jaar (b. 1956).
Chile – literature
At the independence of Spain (1818) a neoclassical literature with beginning romantic features emerged in Chile. During this period, the young Chilean writers were strongly influenced by the intellectuals of other South American countries who resided in Chile due to the more peaceful political conditions here.
These thinkers, politicians and writers came to play a central role in the literary feud of the 1840’s between, on the one hand, the followers of the neoclassic with the Venezuelan Andrés Bello in the foreground and, on the other, the young revolutionary romantics, including the Argentine Domingo F. Sarmiento. However, the break between the two movements did not become as crucial here as elsewhere on the continent. This was due to the moderate attitude of the Chileans, which is considered by many critics to be a fundamental feature of both their mentality and literature.
The romantic direction Alberto Blest Gana (1830-1920) combined the page with a realistic way of looking, and thus he founded Chile’s national novel. His historical novels are inspired by Dickens, Walter Scott and Balzac.
In the 1890’s, Baldomero Lillo (1867-1923) became one of the big names. Influenced by French naturalism, his narratives depict especially the mining community. Also under the influence of French literature, the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío founded the Spanish-American modernism (approximately 1875-1916). The movement gained relatively few followers in Chile, even though Dario’s breakthrough work Azul (1888) was published in Santiago. The first Latin American Nobel laureate (1945), Gabriela Mistral, was thus also unaffected by modernism; she was the poet of melancholy and the oppressed.
The various avant-garde movements are represented in Chile by three great poets: the creator of creacionismo, Vicente Huidobro, the influential Nobel laureate (1971) Pablo Neruda, and the physicist and mathematician Nicanor Parra (1914-2018). Parra reacted against Neruda’s rhetorical style and, together with his sister, the singer Violeta Parra (1917-67), cultivated the popular tradition.
A decisive step towards a new novel art, not only in Chile but throughout Latin America, was taken by María Luisa Bombal (1910-80). Despite the fact that her writing contains only one novel, one short story and one collection of narratives, it represents a landmark showdown with the prevailing realism.
The more recent Latin American literature, the so-called boom of the 1960’s and 1970’s, made José Donoso world-famous among the leading Latin American literature. One of the most read authors is Isabel Allende, who became world famous with her debut novel The House of the Spirits (1982, then 1985), filmed in 1993 by the Danish director Bille August.
In recent years, a group of younger writers, with Alberto Fuguet (b. 1964) as the front figure, have asserted themselves in the so-called McOndo movement. The name plays ironically on Gabriel García Márquez’s fictional locality Macondo and signals distance from older writers’ cultivation of magical realism in favor of realistic, ruthless contemporary descriptions.
A central literary figure in recent times in Chile as well as in the international context is Roberto Bolaño, who with works such as Los detectives salvajes (1998, da. The Wild Detectives, 2010) and the posthumously published 2666 (2004, da. 2012) have marked himself as one of the most significant Latin American writers of his generation.
Chile – music
Chilean music has been influenced by Spanish influence since the conquest in 1541, mixed with the Native American forms of mapuche in the south and quechua and aymará in the north. The guitar is the most widely used instrument in folk music. The Native American kena is used a lot in the north and in the new folk song. Chilean music became seriously known after 1965 by virtue of the movement La Nueva Canción Chilena(the new Chilean song), which inspired similar movements elsewhere in Latin America. The movement worked partly to regain the musical roots, partly to use song and music as political weapons. Songwriters and singers Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara, Patricio Manns and the groups Quilapayún and Inti-Illimani were the main exponents of the movement. Since the 1980’s, new groups have tried to fuse folk music with elements from rock and modern pop.
Chile – film
During the silent film period 1916-31, a total of 80 feature films were produced, of which Pedro Sienna’s (1893-1972) El Húsar de la muerte (1925) had for decades the status of the country’s best film. In 1938, a cultural upswing led to the establishment of a modern national production company, Chile Filmstudierne, but production had to be stopped again in 1949. Only with the student movement’s first film clubs in 1958 did Chilean film get new inspiration: in 1960 a film archive was founded, in 1963 the Viña del Mar film festival was inaugurated and in 1965 the Chile Film Studies were started again. The role models were the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism; Rául Ruiz (b. 1941) won international attention with Tres Tristes Tigres (1968, Three Sad Tigers), and Miguel Littíns (b. 1942)El chacal de Nahueltoro (1969, The Jackal of Nahueltoro) and La tierra prometida (1973, The Promised Land) have since become classics in Chilean film. Under Salvador Allende 1970-73, the Chilean film was politicized and popularized with Miguel Littín as the director of the Chile Film Studies. After the coup in 1973, most instructors chose to continue their business in exile. The time around the coup is dealt with in Andrés Woods’ (b. 1965) childhood portrayal of Machuca (2004, My Friend Machuca).
Chile – wine
Chile is the leading wine country in South America in terms of quality. More than DKK 500 million is produced annually. bottles from a wine area of 65,000 ha. Viticulture was founded in the 1550’s by Spanish monks who planted the red so-called “mission grape”. Under the name pais, it occupies half of the wine area.
Chilean wines have successfully taken over part of the traditional European wine countries’ market share in Denmark and in 2004 had the second largest registered share in volume (17%) after France. Low costs and stable climatic conditions ensure a constant quality at relatively low prices.
Chile’s wine industry was modernized in the 1850’s when French grape varieties were introduced and wineries were established with the help of French experts. From 1980, major modernizations have taken place again, and the best wines are made in the French style for export. As the only wine country in the world, Chile has never been plagued by wine lice, and the wines are made from grapes from original, ungrafted vines.
In Chile’s northernmost wine regions, Atacama and Coquimbo, table grapes in particular are grown. distilled to the colorless brandy pisco. The country’s warmest wine region, Aconcagua, produces good red wines, while in the new, cooler subdivision of the Pacific Ocean, Casablanca, good white wines of chardonnay are grown. Around Santiago is Maipo, which is the country’s most famous district, as many large wineries are based here. In Rapel, most red wines are made, and large wineries such as Santa Rita and Undurraga have invested in the area. To the south are the two largest wine regions, Maule and Bío-Bío, which are especially planted with pais, which produces regular daily wines.
