REPUBLIC OF CHILE

Official name: Republica de Chile (Republic of Chile)
Location: South America
International organisations: The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of American States, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation
Borders: Argentina, Bolivia, Peru
Coastline: South Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean
Land area: 756,950 Km2
Population: 15,500,000
Ethnicity: The population is more than 95% of European (mainly Spanish) descent, although many people have some Amerindian descent. About 3% are of entirely Amerindian descent.
Languages: Spanish is the official language and is universally spoken.
Religion: Nearly the whole population is at least nominally Christian (Catholic 90%, Protestant 10%).
Form of government: Presidential democratic republic. Chile is divided into 13 regions.
Capital: Santiago de Chile
Constitution: The current Constitution of Chile came into effect on 11 September 1980. It has been amended several times since.
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a six-year term.
Head of government: The President, who appoints the members of the Cabinet.
Legislature: Chile has a bicameral legislature, the National Congress (Congreso Nacional). The lower house is the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados), which has 117 members elected for four-year terms from two-member constituencies. The upper house is the Senate of the Republic (Senado de la República), which has 48 members. Of these, 38 are elected for eight-year terms from two-seat constituences, while up to 10 members are appointed by the President.

Electoral authority: The Electoral Service of Chile administers national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 1

Political history

The coastal areas of what is now Chile were brought under Spanish rule in the mid 16th century: Santiago de Chile was founded in 1541. In 1778 Chile became a captaincy-general within the Spanish Empire. In 1818 the Spanish settlers declared the country independent, and Bernardo O'Higgins, the local patriotic leader, became President. Following his resignation there was a long period of disorder. But from 1833 an ologarchy of landowners established a stable government which endured for a century.

Parliamentary government was introduced in 1891, but in 1925 a new constitution restored the presidential system. But intense class conflict led to a period of authoritarian rule from 1927 to 1932, followed by a restored constitutional regime under a succession of conservative presidents.

The modern period of Chilean politics began with the election of a liberal, Eduardo Frei, as president in 1964. Many reforms were carried out, and the hopes of the poor were raised, but not satisfied. This led to the election, on a minority vote, of the Socialist Salvador Allende in 1970. Allende's radical policies created a violent reaction, culminating in an army coup in 1973 in which Allende was killed. The military regime of Augusto Pinochet held office until 1990, when Pinochet retired and allowed a return to civilian rule.

Chile's return to democracy has been surprisingly calm, with few demands for retribution on either side. Pinochet's regime carried out a major liberalisation of the economy which has given Chile unparalleled prosperity. In 2000 a moderate Socialist, Ricardo Lagos, was peacefully elected President, marking an end to the divisions of the Allende-Pinochet period. Chile elected its first woman president, Michele Bachelet, in 2005.

The dominant force in Chilean politics is the centre-left coalition, the Concertation of Parties for Democracy. This includes the centrist Christian-Democratic Party of Chile, the social-democratic Socialist Party of Chile, the liberal Party for Democracy and the centre-left Social-Democratic Radical Party. Also on the left is the Communist Party of Chile, much reduced in influence since the Allende era.

The conservative coalition, the Alliance for Chile, consists of the Independent Democratic Union and the National Renewal, both hard-line right-wing parties which are still associated with the repression of the Pinochet years and have not been able to recover the centre ground from the left.