The 1991 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

      _#_Agriculture: accounts for about 45% of GDP; largely subsistence farming; cotton most important cash crop; food crops include sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes, manioc; livestock—cattle, sheep, goats, camels; self-sufficient in food in years of adequate rainfall

      _#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–89), $198 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $1.3 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979–89), $28 million; Communist countries (1970–89), $80 million

      _#_Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural—francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

      _#_Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1—256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

      _#_Fiscal year: calendar year

      _*Communications #_Highways: 31,322 km total; 32 km bituminous; 7,300 km gravel and laterite; remainder unimproved

      _#_Inland waterways: 2,000 km navigable

      _#_Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft

      _#_Airports: 70 total, 54 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 23 with runways 1,220–2,439 m

      _#_Telecommunications: fair system of radiocommunication stations for intercity links; 5,000 telephones; stations—3 AM, 1 FM, limited TV service; many facilities are inoperative; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

      _*Defense Forces #_Branches: Patriotic Salvation Force (FPS; Army, Air Force), paramilitary Gendarmerie, National Police

      _#_Manpower availability: males 15–49, 1,188,222; 616,932 fit for military service; 51,713 reach military age (20) annually

      _#Defense expenditures: $39 million, 4.3% of GDP (1988) % @Chile *Geography #_Total area: 756,950 km2; land area: 748,800 km2; includes Isla de Pascua (Easter Island) and Isla Sala y Gomez

      _#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana

      _#_Land boundaries: 6,171 km total; Argentina 5,150 km, Bolivia 861 km, Peru 160 km

      _#_Coastline: 6,435 km

      _#_Maritime claims:

      Contiguous zone: 24 nm;

      Continental shelf: 200 nm;

      Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

      Territorial sea: 12 nm

      _#_Disputes: short section of the southern boundary with Argentina is indefinite; Bolivia has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Bolivia over Rio Lauca water rights; territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine claim

      _#_Climate: temperate; desert in north; cool and damp in south

      _#_Terrain: low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged Andes in east

      _#_Natural resources: copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum

      _#_Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 16%; forest and woodland 21%; other 56%; includes irrigated 2%

      _#_Environment: subject to severe earthquakes, active volcanism, tsunami; Atacama Desert one of world's driest regions; desertification

      _#_Note: strategic location relative to sea lanes between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

      _*People #_Population: 13,286,620 (July 1991), growth rate 1.5% (1991)

      _#_Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1991)

      _#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

      _#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

      _#_Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

      _#_Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 77 years female (1991)

      _#_Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (1991)

      _#_Nationality: noun—Chilean(s); adjective—Chilean

      _#_Ethnic divisions: European and European-Indian 95%, Indian 3%, other 2%

      _#_Religion: Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 11%, and small Jewish population

      _#_Language: Spanish

      _#_Literacy: 93% (male 94%, female 93%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

      _#_Labor force: 3,840,000; services 38.6% (includes government 12%) 38.6%; industry and commerce 31.3%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing 15.9%; mining 8.7%; construction 4.4% (1985)

      _#_Organized labor: 11% of labor force (1990)

      _*Government #_Long-form name: Republic of Chile

      _#_Type: republic

      _#_Capital: Santiago

      _#_Administrative divisions: 13 regions (regiones, singular—region); Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo, Antofagasta, Araucania, Atacama, Bio-Bio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana, Tarapaca, Valparaiso; note—the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica

      _#_Independence: 18 September 1810 (from Spain)

      _#_Constitution: 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981; amended 30 July 1989

      _#_Legal system: based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

      _#_National holiday: Independence Day, 18 September (1810)

      _#_Executive branch: president, Cabinet

      _#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consisting of an upper house or Senate (Senado) and a lower house or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)

      _#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

      _#_Leaders:

      Chief of State and Head of Government—President Patricio

       AYLWIN (since 11 March 1990)

      _#_Political parties and leaders:

       Concertation of Parties for Democracy now consists mainly of six

       parties—Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Andres ZALDIVAR;

       Party for Democracy (PPD), Erich SCHNAKE;

       Radical Party (PR), Mario ASTORGA;

       Democratic Socialist Radical Party (PRSD), Jorge IBANEZ;

       Social Democratic Party (PSD), Rene ABELIUK; and

       Socialist Party, Jorge ARRATE;

       National Renovation (RN), Andres ALLAMAND;

       Independent Democratic Union (UDI), Joaquin LAVIN;

       Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), Volodia TEITELBOIM;

       Movement of Revolutionary Left (MIR) is splintered, no single

       leader

      _#_Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18

      _#_Elections:

      President—last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December 1993 or January 1994); results—Patricio AYLWIN (PDC) 55.2%, Hernan BUCHI 29.4%, other 15.4%;

      Senate—last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December

       1993 or January 1994); seats—(46 total, 38 elected)

       Concertation of Parties for Democracy 22 (PDC 13, PPD 5, PR 2, PSD 1,

       PRSD 1), RN 6, UDI 2, independents 8;