Chile Facts For Your Chile Factfile

This page provides a one stop shop reference of useful Chile facts.

Click here for further information about Chile.

Click here for further information about South America.

Suggestions of sites to visit in Chile can be found in the Where to Visit section as well as Culture and Art.

Chile Fact File

Monetary unit
  • Full Name: Republic of Chile
  • Capital City: Santiago
  • Country Area: 756,102 sq km
  • Land Mass Area: 743,812 sq km
  • Population: 16,746,491 (2010 estimate)
  • Life Expectancy: 77.53
  • Ethnicity: 94.5% white / white-Amerindian, 4% Mapuche, 0.5% other (2002 census)
  • Religion: 70% Roman Catholic, 15% Evangelical, 8% no religion, 5% other, 1% Jehovah's Witness, 1% Other Christian
  • Official Languages: Spanish
  • Internet Domain: .cl
  • International Dialling Code: +56
  • Monetary Unit: Chilean Peso
  • Government: Republic
  • Independence from Spain: 18 September 1810
  • Independence Formally Proclaimed: 12 February 1818

Random Fact

In recorded history, the Atacama Desert has never had any rainfall and is recorded as the driest place on earth.

Perhaps to make up for this, the largest swimming pool in the world (according to the Guinness book of World Records) measuring in at 1300 x 800 metres, was built at the resort of San Alfonso del Mar.