CHILE 



1332 



CHILE 



Indian word meaning cold, referring to the per- 

 petual snow on many of the mountains. 



The People. Chile does not have an ex- 

 cessive foreign population. More than 3,000,- 

 000 of the people are natives; and of this 



Chica 



Ph-ladelphi 

 St. Louis* 1 



A STARTLING COMPARISON 

 Northern Chile is as far south of the equator 

 as Haiti is north of "the line" ; its southern ex- 

 tremity is in a latitude comparable with South- 

 ern Hudson Bay. The above map shows where 

 Chile would lie could it be turned upon North 

 America, with the equator as an axis. 



native population more than a fourth is of 

 pure Spanish stock. Very many of the influen- 

 tial families have been settled in that country 

 for more than a century. Happily for Chile, 

 its colonial families came very largely from the 

 northern provinces of Spain, the people of 

 which are industrious, thrifty and progressive, 

 in contrast with the more romantic and ex- 

 citable people of the southern provinces of that 

 interesting land. Just as the northern prov- 

 inces of Spain are the cooler, so the more 

 southern lands of South America are the 

 cooler; for both of these are located at a con- 

 siderable distance from the torrid heat of the 

 equator. 



All Chileans speak the Spanish language, and 

 nearly all of the natives profess the Roman 

 Catholic faith. The social customs of Spain 

 are everywhere in evidence, and these generally 

 reflect the high culture and refined etiquette 

 of old Spain. There are in Chile about 150,000 

 European foreigners, who have been drawn 



thither generally for purposes of business. 

 These are chiefly Spanish, French, Germans, 

 Italians and British. There are also 50,000 

 Peruvians and Bolivians in the north. 



Of the ancient inhabitants of Chile, the 

 Araucanians and the Patagonians have been 

 famous the world over for ages, though only 

 about 100,000 of the former remain, and the 

 latter are practically extinct. The Araucanians 

 had an' intense love for liberty and a deter- 

 mined, warlike spirit, and they were the last 

 native tribe in all America to give up their 

 independence. Not until 1870 did they actually 

 recognize the authority of the Chilean govern- 

 ment (see PATAGONIA). Chile has practically 

 no negro population, and has not been vexed 

 with problems growing out of African slavery. 



The Land Surface and Climate. Entering 

 Chile at the north, behind the steep coast 

 table-land of granite and mica rocks, called the 

 Coast Cordillera of the Andes Mountains, one 

 finds first a desert section in the torrid zone, ris- 

 ing to meet the Bolivian plateau and having an 

 altitude of from 12,000 to 14,000 feet. Its 

 climate is sub-tropical. In that section in the 

 Andes, which forms the unbroken eastern wall 

 of the republic, are numerous volcanoes, the 

 Llullailaco being 100 feet higher than the 

 celebrated Chimborazo in Ecuador. In the 

 center is a rich valley 600 miles long, of almost 

 tropical verdure, watered by numerous small 

 rivers rising in the Andes. This agricultural 

 section of Chile, where the rain supply is fairly 

 abundant, has an even, pleasant climate, with 

 the evenings always comfortably cool. 



Finally, in the southern portion is found a 

 mountainous, heavily-forested section, a cold 

 region with almost continuous rains. Here, 

 where the famous Strait of Magellan cuts 

 through Chilean lands, the otherwise uniform 

 coast line breaks into picturesque ruggedness. 

 The fiords and islands and forest-covered 

 mountains topped with glaciers remind one of 

 the romantic scenery of Northern Europe. The 

 Chilean portion of the Andes has an average 

 elevation of 6,000 feet in the south, and 15,000 

 feet in the north. These mountains are more 

 heavily clad in snow than any other part of 

 the great range. 



The rivers are of little importance for trans- 

 portation, being short and turbulent, but sev- 

 eral in the south, the Imperial, Bio-bio, Val- 

 divia and Bueno, are navigated by small steam- 

 boats for some distance. Unlike many South 

 American countries, Chile has few birds, beasts, 

 fish or reptiles. 



