CHILE 



1333 



CHILE 



Mineral Resources. Chile is one of the chief 

 mineral-producing countries of South America. 

 Its mineral wealth was the cause of early dis- 

 turbances concerning territorial rights, for the 

 northern desert of the country is the chief 



LOCATION MAP 



Showing 1 the position Chile occupies in the 

 continent, and its size as compared with other 

 South American republics. 



source of the world's supply of nitrate of soda, 

 one of the finest fertilizers known. 



Nitrate of Soda. The export trade in this 

 whitish-looking mud, so easily obtained by a 

 surface-scraping process, produces a yearly tax 

 revenue of about $35,000,000, United States 

 money enough to pay one-third of the ex- 

 penses of the republic. About three million 

 tons are exported each year, an average of 

 10,000 tons each working day. Almost all of 

 it is sent to Europe and the United States, 

 Iquique being celebrated as the world's great- 

 est nitrate port. Chileans believe this source 

 of easy wealth will last forever, but scientific 

 men have estimated that the supply will be 

 exhausted by 1940. A by-product of nitrate 

 of soda, which is also a considerable article of 

 export, especially to the United States, is 

 iodine, used in medical practice and in pho- 

 tography. 



Copper ores are next to nitrates in impor- 

 tance among the mineral resources. In 1875 



Chile was the largest producer of copper in 

 the world, but it now holds sixth place. De- 

 posits of iron ore in the province of Coquimbo 

 are estimated at over 200,000,000 tons. Gold, 

 silver, cobalt, nickel and manganese are also 

 mined, and coal, zinc, iron, mercury and chalks 

 are found in small quantities. 



Agriculture. Most of its agricultural activi- 

 ties are confined to its great central valley, 

 where there are large estates owned by wealthy 

 Chileans and by the Roman Catholic Church. 

 These estates are worked with modern machin- 

 ery. The poorer classes serve as laborers, for 

 they cannot own farms because of the high 

 price of land. Yet statistics show that about 

 half of Chile's population is engaged in agri- 

 cultural pursuits. The most important crops 

 are wheat, barley, oats, maize and beans. Next 

 to the growing of cereals the most important 

 agricultural industry is grape raising, about 

 250,000 acres being devoted to that purpose. 

 Flax, hemp and tobacco are cultivated to some 

 extent. Apple growing has become very suc- 

 cessful, especially in the southern portion. 



As pasturage is good the year round, cattle 

 raising is another prominent industry. Sheep 

 and pigs are numerous, especially in the central 

 valley. Dairy farming and the production of 

 butter and cheese are on the increase. The 

 southern portion is chiefly a lumber district of 

 cedar, Araucanian pine, cypress, beech, poplar, 

 willow, chestnut and eucalyptus. 



The government of Chile has made a call 

 for settlers, offering special inducements, and 

 a considerable number of Japanese farmers 

 have already answered the call. 



Manufacture and Commerce. The natives of 

 Chile do not take to manufacturing, and as 

 the foreign element is still small, manufactur- 

 ing industries are unimportant. Soap, furni- 

 ture and shoes are the chief products, except 

 in a southern German settlement at Valdivia, 

 where large breweries, distilleries, saw mills and 

 tanneries are found. Cottons and woolens, 

 coal, oil, machinery, paper materials, animal 

 products and chemicals have for years been 

 imported from Great Britain, Germany and the 

 United States. 



Transportation and Communication. Chile 

 was the first South American state to construct 

 a railway, the oldest line having been opened' in 

 1852. By 1888 the construction of railroads 

 was begun on a large scale, and in 1914 there 

 were more than 5,000 miles of railway open for 

 traffic, over 3,200 miles of which belong to the 

 state. Numerous new lines are being planned. 



