Chile

Overview

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a long, narrow country on South America’s Pacific coast, stretching about 2,700 miles from Peru to Cape Horn between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Santiago, its official language is Spanish, and its 2024 census enumerated 18,480,432 people. Chile is a multiparty republic; after the 1973–1990 military dictatorship, it restored democratic government in 1990.

Chile’s geography drives much of its story: desert in the north, a temperate central valley holding most of the population and the largest cities, a lake and forest region further south, and cold, fjord-cut Patagonia at the southern end (Britannica). Its economy rests on primary activities — agricultural production, copper, iron and nitrate mining, and exploitation of sea resources — and the country has also developed manufacturing and a burgeoning middle class (Britannica). Chile was colonized by Spain, and the culture that evolved was largely Spanish, though appreciation of Indigenous culture has been growing and the population became largely mestizo, a blend of Spanish and Indigenous bloodlines (Britannica). Except for the military junta that held power from September 1973 to March 1990, Chile has been relatively free of the coups and constitutional suspensions common to many of its neighbours (Britannica).

Geography: a long, narrow country between the Andes and the Pacific

Chile extends approximately 2,700 miles (4,300 km) from its boundary with Peru at latitude 17°30′ S to Cape Horn at latitude 56° S, only about 400 miles north of Antarctica, with an average width of only about 110 miles (Britannica). It is bounded on the north by Peru and Bolivia, on its long eastern border by Argentina, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean (Britannica). Three parallel landforms run north–south: the Andes to the east, the intermediate depression or longitudinal valley in the centre, and the coastal ranges to the west (Britannica). The north is largely desert, including the Atacama; the centre is temperate and holds the bulk of the population; the south-central Lake District is humid; and the far south is cold, wet and cut by fjords (Britannica). Chile also exercises sovereignty over Easter Island, the Juan Fernández Archipelago and smaller South Pacific islets (Britannica). Volcanic eruptions, violent earthquakes and tsunamis periodically beset the country (Britannica).

History and government: dictatorship, return to democracy, and recent elections

Chile’s democratic tradition dates to the 19th century, but General Augusto Pinochet led a 1973 military coup that deposed the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende (1970–1973) (Congressional Research Service). More than 3,200 people were killed or “disappeared,” and some 37,000 people were imprisoned and/or tortured during the Pinochet dictatorship (Congressional Research Service). Chile restored democratic governance in 1990, following a 1988 plebiscite (Congressional Research Service). President Gabriel Boric took office in March 2022 pledging to address socioeconomic disparities, and won support for higher mining royalties, a higher minimum wage, a cut in the work week from 45 to 40 hours, and pension changes (Congressional Research Service). Voters rejected a Boric-backed constitutional rewrite in September 2022 and a more conservative draft in December 2023, so the 1980 constitution remains in place (Congressional Research Service). On 14 December 2025, José Antonio Kast defeated Jeannette Jara 58%–42% in a presidential runoff, with the new president scheduled to take office on 11 March 2026 (Congressional Research Service).

Economy: copper, lithium, and an open, export-oriented market

As of 2024, Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and its second-largest producer of lithium, according to the United States Geological Survey (Congressional Research Service). Living standards improved significantly between 1990 and 2022, with real gross domestic product per capita growing by 154% and the poverty rate falling from 68.5% to 6.5% (Congressional Research Service). Growth has since been modest: annual GDP growth averaged 1.8% between 2022 and 2024, and Chile’s central bank projected 2.4% growth in 2025 as higher copper prices and investment were partly offset by United States tariffs and geopolitical tensions (Congressional Research Service). In 2024, total United States–Chilean trade in goods and services amounted to more than $48 billion (Congressional Research Service). Under the United States–Chile Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in 2004, nearly all goods trade is duty-free, though a 10% tariff was imposed on imports from Chile in April 2025, with some top imports such as refined copper cathodes exempt (Congressional Research Service).

People, culture and heritage: an ageing, urban, Spanish-speaking country

A total of 18,480,432 people were enumerated in Chile’s Population and Housing Census between March and July 2024, of whom 51.5% were female and 48.5% male (National Statistics Institute of Chile). The population is ageing: the share aged 65 or over rose from 6.6% in 1992 to 14% in 2024, while the share aged 14 or under fell from 29.4% to 17.7% over the same period (National Statistics Institute of Chile). Households are getting smaller: there were 6,596,527 households in 2024, averaging 2.8 persons, with single-person households rising from 8.3% in 1992 to 21.8% (National Statistics Institute of Chile). Spanish is the official and national language, and Chile is also home to Indigenous languages, most prominently Mapuche, spoken in the south-central part of the country (Britannica). Local traditions are visible in colourful religious festivals drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators (Britannica). Fútbol (soccer) arouses particular devotion, with crowds of up to 80,000 attending matches in Santiago (Britannica).

Region	2024 census population	Share of enumerated residents
Metropolitan Region (Santiago)	7,400,741	40%
Valparaíso Region	1,896,053	10.3%
Biobío Region	1,613,059	8.7%
Chile, total	18,480,432	100%

Source: National Statistics Institute of Chile, 2024 Census first results.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Chile? Chile is a long, narrow country along the western seaboard of South America, stretching about 2,700 miles from its border with Peru to Cape Horn, averaging only about 110 miles in width. It is bordered by Peru and Bolivia to the north, Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west, with Santiago as its capital.

What happened in Chile between 1973 and 1990? General Augusto Pinochet led a 1973 military coup that deposed the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende. More than 3,200 people were killed or “disappeared,” and some 37,000 were imprisoned and/or tortured. Chile restored democratic governance in 1990 after a 1988 plebiscite.

What drives Chile’s economy? As of 2024, Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and its second-largest producer of lithium, according to the United States Geological Survey. Living standards rose sharply between 1990 and 2022, with real GDP per capita up 154% and poverty falling from 68.5% to 6.5%, though growth averaged only 1.8% a year in 2022–2024.

What is Rapa Nui National Park? Rapa Nui National Park covers almost half of Easter Island, about 3,700 kilometres off continental Chile. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, the first in Chile, and holds the island’s most important archaeological sites, including the Rano Raraku quarry where many moai were carved and the Orongo ceremonial village.

How is Chile’s population changing? Chile’s population is ageing and its households are shrinking. The share aged 65 or over rose from 6.6% in 1992 to 14% in 2024, while the share aged 14 or under fell from 29.4% to 17.7%. Average household size fell from four persons in 1992 to 2.8 in 2024, with single-person households reaching 21.8%.

What this profile does not claim

• It does not date Chile’s declaration of independence or describe the War of the Pacific: those events were in the assigned scope, but the additional sources needed to verify them could not be fetched and read in full in this pass, so they are left out rather than asserted from memory or snippets.
• It does not claim anything about Chilean wine or salmon exports, or about the Nobel Prizes of Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, for the same reason — the sources for those topics could not be fetched and read in full in this pass.
• It does not give a Mapuche share of the population, and it does not assert Senate or Chamber of Deputies seat counts, because the sources consulted disagree on the legislature figures (see openItems).
• It does not treat Britannica’s 2026 population estimate (18,795,000) and the INE’s enumerated census figure (18,480,432) as interchangeable; the profile uses the enumerated figure.
• It does not cover the post-2025 Kast administration’s policies in detail, since the newest source read in full predates his taking office.