Portal:Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile ), is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific forms the country's entire western border, with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage at the country's southernmost tip. Chile claims 1,250,000 km² (482,628 sq mi) of territory in Antarctica.
On average, Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Since there is little precipitation, except at the coasts, the interior of the continent is technically the largest desert in the world. There are no permanent human residents and there is no evidence of any existing or pre-historic indigenous population. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals, mosses, lichen, and many types of algae.
The name Antarctica is a romanized version of the Greek compound word Αntarktiké (Aνταρκτική), meaning "Opposite of the Arctic". Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. However, the continent remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation.
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by twelve countries; to date, forty-five countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, supports scientific research, and protects the continent's ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists of many nationalities and with different research interests.
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (November 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was President of Chile from 1974 to 1990, and was the President of the Government Junta from 1973 to 1981. His regime instituted a campaign against leftist political parties, including murder, torture, kidnapping and the repression of civil liberties. At the same time he implemented classical capitalist economic policies including privatization and rollback of state welfare institutions.
On September 11, 1973, Pinochet, recently appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army, was part of, along with the Navy, Air Force and National Police, a coup d'état against Socialist President Salvador Allende and established a military government. Pinochet implemented a series of military operations in which (according to the 1993 Rettig Report) approximately 3,000 people were killed, while (according to the 2004 Valech Report) 27,000 were incarcerated without trials and subjected to torture. Thousands more fled in exile, in particular to Argentina, as political refugees; however, they were followed in their exile by the DINA secret police, in the frame of Operation Condor which linked South American dictatorships together against political opponents.
In 1974, the junta appointed Pinochet president by a joint decree, later confirmed by a plebiscite in 1980. He remained in power until 1990, after his attempt to continue to rule was defeated in the 1988 plebiscite. After stepping down, he remained a life-senator, in accord with the 1980 Constitution. He was also Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until March 10, 1998.
At the time of his death in December 2006, around 300 criminal charges were still pending against him in Chile for human rights abuses (torture, forced disappearance, assassination, etc.), tax evasion and embezzlement under his rule and afterwards — in 2006, Pinochet's total wealth was estimated at $28 million or more. Pinochet remains a controversial figure in many parts of the world, dividing people who condemn him for his human rights abuses from those who credit him with bringing order and economic stability to Chile.
Moai at Rano Raraku, Easter Island.
- ...that Ojos del Salado is the highest mountain in Chile and the highest volcano in the world?
- ...that the Chinchorro mummies are the oldest examples of mummified human remains, dating to thousands of years before the Egyptian mummies?
- 1 January 2008: Llaima volcano erupts
- 26 November 2007: 2007 Ig Nobel Prize winners announced
- 19 November 2007: Spanish King's 'shut up' to Chávez becomes ringtone
- 15 November 2007: Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Antofagasta, Chile
- 5 October 2007: Family of Chile's former leader Augusto Pinochet arrested on embezzlement charges
- 20 July 2007: Violence erupts after game at 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup
- 13 July 2007: 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup: Austria, Czech Republic, Spain and US make it to quarters
- 18 May 2007: Penguin swims ashore in Peru
- 26 April 2007: Newly discovered extra-solar planet may be Earth-like
- 23 April 2007: Earthquake in Chile triggers landslide
- 29 March 2007: Wikinews Shorts: March 29, 2007
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