Bali

Balinese dance includes many famous forms such as legong, baris, topeng, barong, and many others. It also has the legend Por la razón o la fuerza (By right or might or By reason or by force).
. Balinese gamelan is highly developed and varied. The coat of arms depicts the two national animals: the condor (Vultur gryphus, a very large bird that lives in the mountains) and the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus, an endangered white tail deer). Balinese is famous for the arts, both the performing arts as well as painting, scuplture, and woodcarving. The national flower is the copihue (Lapageria rosea, Chilean bellflower), which grows in the woods of southern Chile. In the past, the language has been heavily influenced by the Balinese caste system, but this is becoming less and less pronounced. Master artists from Chile include: Carlos Catasse, Roberto Matta, Camilo Mori, Carlos Sotomayor.

The Balinese language is a rich and diverse language reflecting the population. His three highly individualistic homes, located in Isla Negra, Santiago and Valparaiso are popular tourist destinations. English is a common third language owing to the island's large tourism industry. Chile's most famous poet, however, is Pablo Neruda, who also won the Nobel Prize and is world-renowned for his extensive library of works on romance, nature, and politics. Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and many Balinese people are bilingual or even trilingual. Gabriela Mistral, was the first Chilean to win a Nobel Prize for literature. Other minority religions on the island include Islam (5.7%), Christianity (1.4%), and Buddhism (0.6%) (2003 statistics). Chileans call their country País de Poetas which means land of poets.

About 92% of Bali's population adheres to this religion. In the mid-1960s native musical forms were revitalized by the Parra family with the Nueva Canción Chilena, which was associated with political activists and reformers. Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, the majority of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed from a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Arising from music imported by the Spanish colonists, it is distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody. Bali is a richly diverse island of approximately 3.57 million people (2003 statistics). Another form of traditional Chilean song, though not a dance, is the tonada. Another series of bombings occurred nearly three years later at Kuta and nearby Jimbaran; see 2005 Bali bombings. The national dance is the cueca.

On October 12, 2002, the island was the location of a car bomb attack in the tourist resort of Kuta, killing 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. Other European influences, primarily English and French, began in the 19th century and have continued until today, as in other Western societies. In 1965, after a failed coup d'etat against the national government, Bali was the scene of widespread killings of members and sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) by right-wing militias, along with several other parts of Indonesia. Afterwards, their culture was dominated by the Spanish during the Colonial and early Republican period. Bali became part of the Republic of East Indonesia after the World War II Japanese conquest and part of United States of Indonesia in 1948. Northern Chile was an important center of culture in the medieval and early modern Inca empire. "Pendet","Legong" and "Baris" are some of the better-known examples. About 85% of Chile's population lives in urban areas, with 40% of the country's population living in Greater Santiago (6.5 million people).

Balinese dance is highly developed, and considered by many to be one of the world's finest artistic traditions. Most retained their traditions, cultures and national affiliations by maintaining close-knit communities - although many also mixed into the majority - while at the same time co-existed peacefully with the host population. Its arts and crafts are also popular. Although the combined number of immigrants never comprised a large segment of the population, they nevertheless contributed greatly to Chilean society and the development of the nation. Bali's beaches are famous worldwide. In the last decade there has been an influx of Koreans who settled in small sections of Santiago. International tourism started in the 1920s. There are also people from Middle Eastern and North African backgrounds, including the second largest Palestinian colony outside of the Middle East.

These wars were so fierce (with the entire royal court of the Raja, women and children plunged into battle, armed with kris and spears, killing each other on the battlefield rather than be taken captive) that the Dutch governors afterwards exercised relatively little influence over the island, generally allowing local control over religion and culture to remain intact. Other historically significant immigrant groups include people of Italian ancestry (Valparaíso Region), Croatian (Antofagasta and Punta Arenas), French, and Polish backgrounds. Dutch control of the island was firmly established after a series of colonial wars (1846–1849). A government-sponsored immigration from Germany began in 1848, and in time, changed the cultural makeup of the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno, which still show a strong German influence. The Dutch established a trade post soon after, and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) started trading from early 17th century onwards. They include an influential number of descendants of Irish immigrants which arrived in Chile during the Spanish colonial period and descendants of English immigrants, arrived during and after independence (mainly merchants and sailors). Europeans first discovered the island when the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived in 1597, though a Portuguese ship had foundered off the coast of Bukit as early as 1585. Chileans descended from non-Spanish European immigrants are numerous.

The Majapahit empire collapsed slightly before 1500, due to assaults, causing an exodus to Bali. However, Argentina's eventual economic collapse in 2001 caused such an escalation in their migratory influx into Chile, that by 2005 Argentinians comprised the largest immigrant group, outnumbering Peruvians. The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on Eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. Peruvians have historically constituted the largest immigrant group of the country. The name Balidwipa has been discovered from various inscriptions, among others the Blanjong charter which was issued by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 913 AD and mentions the word "Walidwipa". Throughout much of Chile's modern history there has been a slow but steady work related trans-Andean migration to Chile - primarily from Peru and Bolivia - due mostly to the economic situation of its neighbours. The end of the prehistoric period in Indonesia was marked by the arrival of the Hindu people arriving from India around 100 BC as determined by Brahmi inscriptions on potsherds. There are also around 5,000 polynesian people who are indigenous to the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Rapanui) in the Pacific.

The Balinese people are descendants of a prehistoric race who migrated through mainland Asia to the Indonesian archipelago, presumably first settling around 2500 BC. Aymara and Quechua-speaking populations live along the northern border with Peru and Bolivia. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings, stone carvings and silverware. Of that 700,000, around 80% are Mapuche that reside mainly in the south-central area of the country. A significant number of Balinese are also fishermen. People that self-identify solely as members of any of the country's many indigenous groups number around 700,000 individuals, or 5% of the country's total population. Other crops such as fruits, vegetables and other cash crops are also grown, although in smaller amounts. Those of unmixed European ancestry are estimated in ten percent of the population.

Most of the Balinese people are involved in agriculture, primarily that of rice cultivation. People of relatively unmixed Spanish ancestry are not uncommon. Beautiful black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are now being developed for tourism, but apart from the famous seaside temple of Tanah Lot, this is not yet a tourist area. The combination of an economy based on temperate-zone agriculture, Amerindian resistance to Spanish occupation, and a continuous influx of Spaniards from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the colonial period defined the main body of Chile's mestizo majority population to one where the average Spanish input is greater than in neighbouring Andean mestizo populations. Facing a revitalizing landscape of strong waves, the coast around Pasut is a perfect escape from the crowds. Many of these ended up settling in Chile. The Ho River is navigable by small sampan. Spaniards arrived from all regions of Spain, including Andalucia, Extremadura, and the Basque country.

Pasut Beach (Tabanan), near Sungai Ho and Pura Segara, is a quiet beach lying 14 km southwest of Tabanan. During the colonial period, Spain found it necessary to maintain a continual influx of soldiers to protect its distant American colonies. The beach town of Padangbai in the north east has both: the main beach and the secret beach have white sand and the south beach and the blue lagoon have much darker sand. Around 95% of Chileans descend from early Spanish colonists, with the overwhelming part also possessing Native American ancestry in varying degrees - thus deeming the population majority as mestizo. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west tend to have black sand. Unlike some of its South American neighbours, Chile is a relatively homogenous country. The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Chile has a population of 16,136,137 people (June 2005, Estimated).

Due to the slope of the mountainous terrain in the island's center, the roads tend to follow the crests of the ridges across the mountains. The two countries maintain consular relations. There are major coastal roads as well as roads that cross the island mainly in a north-south manner. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. There are no railway lines on the island. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus joining the southernmost part of the island to the main part of the island. The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries.

The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (along with its accompanying beach), Sanur, Jimbaran, Seminyak and the newer development of Nusa Dua. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile and has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade. Its population of over 3 million is mainly (about 93%) Hindu, but a very small part is Muslim (mostly coastal fisherman). Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. In the south the land descends to form an alluvial plain, watered by shallow rivers, dry in the dry season and overflowing whenever there are periods of heavy rains. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. The town of Ubud (north of Denpasar), with its art market, museums and galleries, is regarded as the cultural center of Bali. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities.

The principal cities are the northern port of Singaraja and the capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. About 30,000 years ago Mount Batur experienced a massive catastrophic eruption — one of the largest known volcanic events on Earth. Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Mount Batur, or what remains of it, is also still active. Although not a de-facto mandate in it's mission, the Policia de Investigaciones keeps an eye on the Carabineros in order to weed out corruption, Carabineros reciprocates the duty and both institutions have exposed corrupt officials within their counterpart. Mountains range from the central to the eastern side of the island with Mount Agung being the easternmost peak. In addition to investigating crimes, the Policia de Investigaciones also complements the functions Carabineros in times of civil unrest, and is in charge of all immigration procedures.

The highest point of the island is Mount Agung, 3,142 m high (10,308 feet), an active volcano that last erupted in March 1963. Mr Arturo Herrera heads the Policia de Investigaciones. Its surface is 5,633 km². It is a special arm of the Public Ministry whose main task is to investigate crimes and apprehend the suspects once firm evidence has been established. It lies about 8 degrees south of the equator. In addition to the Carabineros, who are part of the military, Chile also has the Policia de Investigaciones, a police force composed of civilians which is similar in purpose to the FBI. Bali is part of the Lesser Sunda Islands, 153 km long and 112 km wide (95 by 69 miles), and 3.2 km east of Java. Alberto Cienfuegos is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

. Gen. The island is a popular tourist destination and known, along with Java, for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather and metalworking, and music, especially that played on the gamelan. With the return of democratic government, the Carabineros were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. It is positioned in a chain with Java to the west and Lombok to the east. After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. Location: 8°25′23″S, 115°14′55″E. F-16 aircraft in 2006, and a contract for 18 used F-16 more has been signed with Holland.

Bali is an Indonesian island. The FACH will begin taking delivery of 10 U.S. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, Antarctica. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. Osvaldo Sarabia heads a force of 12,500.

Gen. Pendant of delivery one new Scorpene class SSK and up to 4 ex-dutch Fokker F-27 MPA. Currently, the Navy will replace almost all the surface ships with 4 ex-dutch ships(2 Karel Doorman multi-role and 2 Jacob Van Heemskerck air defence frigates) and 3 ex-british ships (Type 23 ASW frigates). The Navy also operates three submarines based in Talcahuano.

The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. Those ships are based in Valparaíso. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only six are operational major combatants (destroyers and frigates) due to be replaced with 8 2nd hand frigates in the 2006-2008 period. Rodolfo Codina Díaz directs the 25,000-person Navy, including 5,000 Marines.

Adm. It also operates Leopard I and AMX-30 main battle tanks. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. Juan Emilio Cheyre.

Gen. The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is Maj. However, reforms made in 2005 to the Constitution now give the President the right to remove the Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces. Under the 1980 Constitution, the services enjoyed considerable autonomy, and the President could not remove service commanders on his own authority.

Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. The combined public and private foreign debt was roughly over 50% of GDP at the end of 2004—low by Latin American standards. The government is paying off its foreign debt. Nearly all of the funds raised go to finance investment.

markets through American Depository Receipts (ADR's). There are three main ways Chilean firms raise funds abroad: bank loans, bond issue, and the selling of stock on U.S. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (Standard & Poor's A+) of countries in Latin America. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $54 billion in late 2004, has provided an important source of investment capital for the capital market.

The introduction of these new products has been accompanied by increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chileans have enjoyed the recent introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The Chilean government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001. Chile's financial sector has grown faster than other areas of the economy over the last few years; a banking reform law approved in 1997 broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks.

Currently it is negotiating with African nations. Chile also has signed trade agreements with China, as well as a four-party agreement with Singapore, New Zealand and Brunei (P4). Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S and Chilean congresses.

The agreement will lead to completely duty free bilateral trade within 12 years. After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. Chile, a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets.

An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued liberalizing trade agreements.

Chile will have to phase out the price bands within 12 years under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's WTO obligations in 2002 and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003.

As a bloc, the European Union (EU) in 2004 supplied 16.3% of Chile's imports, while Argentina contributed 16%. The United States represented 14.6% of Chilean imports in 2004. Capital goods made up about 66% of total imports. Chilean imports increased 30% in 2004, to $23 billion, reflecting a positive change in consumer demand and economic recovery.

Asia has been the fastest-growing export market in recent years. The U.S., the largest national market, takes in 17.3% of Chile's exports. Chile's export markets are fairly balanced among Europe (25.1%), Asia (33.1%), Latin America (15.7%), and North America (19%). Total exports in 2004 were $32 billion, a 52.1% increase from $20.4 billion in 2003.

The trade balance for 2004 showed a historic surplus $9 billion, considerably higher than 2003. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine. In 1975, non-mineral exports made up just over 30% of total exports, whereas now they account for about 60%. Nontraditional exports have grown faster than those of copper and other minerals.

Chile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports; the state-owned firm Codelco is the world's largest copper-producing company. In 2004, exports accounted for about 34% of GDP. Chile's economy is highly dependent on international trade. The U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement offers a number of other investor protections.

Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. Chile's welcoming attitude toward foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. The government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to invest in the region. The Chilean Government committed, in early 2002, to undertake a series of microeconomic reforms designed to create new incentives for private investment.

Both foreign and domestic investment in Chile had declined during the country’s period of slower economic growth from 1999-2003, but appear to be recovering strongly. Total foreign direct investment rose to $7.1 billion in 2004, up from $2.5 billion in 2003. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds. Most wage settlements and spending decisions are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility.

Chile registered inflation of 2.4% in 2004 and is expected to see a 3% increase in 2005 and 2006, due gas-price factor. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile's independent Central Bank pursues a policy of maintaining inflation between 2% and 4%. The share of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a person's minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% of the population in 1987 to 18.8% in 2003.

Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. Unemployment remained at 8.8% at the end of 2004 in spite of strong economic growth. Unemployment has hovered in the 8%-10% range in recent years, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. The privatized national pension system has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP in 2003.

High domestic savings and investment rates also helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. Chile has signed Free Trade agreements (FTAs) with several important economies, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant Codelco and a few other enterprises.

The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization at a slower pace. Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The high degree of governability, the absence of corruption for Latin Standards, the high level of consumer and business confidence on the Chilean stability and the broad network of free trade agreements with most of the First World are the great bases for the Chile's the macroeconomic situation. The Chile's real GDP per capita has risen in two years from $4,568 in 2003 to $7,300 US dollars in 2005 -the highest in Latin America- although a sharp income inequality persists -among the world's top-10 countries- extreme poverty rates less than 18%.

The Chilean economy finished 2004 and 2005 with growth of 6.1% and a similar economic growth ( 6.3%)is forecasted for 2006. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile experienced a moderate downturn in 1999 brought on by the global economic slowdown. Also controlled but uninhabited are the small islands of Sala y Gomez, San Ambrosio and San Felix, these islands are notable because they extend Chile's claim to territorial waters out from its coast into the Pacific.

Chile controls Easter and Sala-y-Gómez Islands, the easternmost islands of Polynesia, which it incorporated to its territory in 1888, and Robinson Crusoe Island, more than 600 km from the mainland, in the Juan Fernández archipelago. Chile is the longest (N-S) country in the world (over 4,200km), and also claims a large section of Antarctica as part of its territory. The Andes Mountains are located on the eastern border. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands.

Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. This area also is the historical center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it integrated the northern and southern regions. The relatively small Central Valley, which includes Santiago, dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. The northern Atacama desert contains great mineral wealth, primarily copper and nitrates.

Chile stretches over 4,630 km (2,880 miles) north to south, but only 430 km (265 mi) at its widest point east to west. A long and narrow coastal Southern Cone country on the west side of the Andes Mountains. There is speculation that the numeral system will be dropped in favor of their formal names. Being designated by numerals 14 and 15, both break the geographical numerical order from north to south.

In 2005, the Chilean congress passed a reform to create two new regions, one in the north, around the city of Arica, and one in the South centered around Valdivia (aka Region of the Rivers). The only exception is the region where Santiago is situated, which is designated RM, that stands for Región Metropolitana, Metropolitan Region. In general, the Roman numeral is used, rather than the name. Each region has traditionally been designated by a name and a Roman numeral, assigned from North to South.

This has being a main problem due to the big size of capital city (over 5.5 millions people) that retains most of those taxes. However all tax incomes from regions goes to central government in Santiago where the final destination of the money not necesseraly returns to the regions. Finally each province is divided into various Comunas each with its own mayor, elected by their inhabitants. Every region is further divided into provinces with a Gobernador Provincial, also appointed by Santiago.

Chile was divided into 13 regions in 1975, each of which is headed by an intendente appointed by the President. The reform replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States. Chile completed in mid-2005 a multi-year overhaul of its criminal justice system. Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a network of courts of appeals, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court of Chile.

Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist moderate, was elected President on January 15, 2006, beating her closest rival Sebastián Piñera. (See Chilean presidential election, 2005.). In 2005, both leading parties, the Christian Democrats and the UDI lost representation in favor of their allies Socialist Party (which became the biggest party in the Concertación block) and National Renewal in the right-wing alliance. The Communist Party again failed to gain any seats in the 2001 elections.

In the 2001 congressional elections, the conservative Independent Democratic Union surpassed the Christian Democrats for the first time to become the largest party in the lower house. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats. Typically, the two largest coalitions split the seats in a district. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two lower chamber seats apportioned to each chamber's electoral districts.

Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. The Congress is located in the port city of Valparaíso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Currently 4 Deputies have their voting rights suspended on legal grounds. The current lower house—the Chamber of Deputies—contains 60 members of the governing center-left coalition and 56 from the center-right opposition.

(Chile's Constitution provided that former presidents who have served at least 6 years shall be entitled to a lifetime senate seat.) The last congressional elections were held in December 2001. Nine institutional senators were appointed in 1999, and two "senators for life," former President Pinochet (who resigned in 2002) and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. The current Senate is evenly split 24-24 between pro-government and opposition Senators. Senators serve for 8 years with staggered terms.

Deputies are elected every 4 years. Chile's bicameral Congress has a 48-seat Senate—38 elected, 9 appointed, 1 for life—and a 120-member Chamber of Deputies. The President is currently elected by the people to a 4-year term, the term was reduced from 6 years in 2005 which was in turn reduced from 8 years in the original 1980 constitution. In 2005, after 3 democratic elections for presidential periods, over 50 reforms were approved, which eliminated the remaining undemocratic areas of the text, such as the existence of non-elected Senators (institutional senators, or senators for life) and the inability of the President to remove the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

However the following years, the new Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. New elections were held in 1989 as was programmed, initiating a normal Democratic process. Pinochet's was defeated in the 1988 plebiscite, but he kept the Army force commanding. If the plesbicite was not approved, free elections will be called the next year (1989) with new candidates for president as well a Congress.

Also the 1980 voting programmed another plebiscite for 1988 for approving a new 8 years period with Pinochet plus a Congress (replacing the Junta). The new constitution established an 8 years government lead by President Augusto Pinochet without a Congress, supported by an Army/Navy/Air/Police Forces Junta instead, that was confirmed along with the approval of the new constitution. It entered into force in March 1981, replacing the old one from 1925. Chile's Constitution was approved in a tightly controlled national plebiscite in September 1980, under the military government of Augusto Pinochet.

(see below). Ms Bachelet will be sworn in for a 4-year term (one of the Constitution's reforms since old format was a 6 years period). The other candidates were previous Alliance for Chile right-wing candidate Joaquin Lavin and Tomas Hirsch, the far left candidate. She won the 2006 runoff election against central-right-wing candidate Sebastián Piñera after none of the 4 main candidates obtained the necesary 50% of the votes in the first round of voting.

She is the first and so far the only woman president in the country's history. Ms Bachelet continues the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy government in their fourth term. Chile's current president-elect is the former health and later defense minister Michelle Bachelet, daughter of Alberto Bachelet, an air force general who was captured and tortured in the military coup of 1973 and died shortly after. The last period of president Frei due to the economy disaster led to a lower popularity for the Concertacion block.

He was sworn in March 11, 2000, for a 6-year term. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party led the Concertación coalition to a narrow victory, with 51.31% of the votes. A presidential election was held on December 12, 1999, but none of the six candidates obtained a majority, which led to an unprecedented runoff election on January 16, 2000 between Ricardo Lagos and Joaquín Lavín of the rightist Alliance for Chile. During his government Chile's economy had their best years, although bad managing during last year plus the fact of the Asian crisis in 1998 got the country involved in a very bad situation affecting mainly to the middle class and to the small-Mid-Sized Companies.

President Frei's administration was inaugurated in March 1994. In December 1993, Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the son of previous president Eduardo Frei Montalva, led the Concertación coalition to victory with an absolute majority of votes. President Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994, that was considered a transition period. Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 16 political parties called the Concertación, received an absolute majority of votes.

Chileans elected a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress on December 14, 1989. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. During its nearly 17 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that saw an increase in domestic and foreign private investment, although the copper industry and other important mineral resources were not returned to foreign ownership. The right-wing military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies.

In the late 1980s, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union and limited political activity. A new Constitution was approved by a highly irregular and undemocratic plebiscite characterized by the absence of registration lists, on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. Some 30,000 were forced to flee the country. At least a thousand people were executed during the first six months of Pinochet in office, and at least two thousand more were killed during the next sixteen years, as reported by the Valech Report.

On October 1973, at least 70 persons were murdered by the Caravan of Death. The first years of the regime were marked by serious human rights violations. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace (Palacio de La Moneda), Allende reportedly committed suicide.

A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. The crippled economy was further battered by prolonged and sometimes simultaneous strikes by physicians, teachers, students, truck owners, copper workers, and the small business class. By early 1973, inflation was out of control. Political polarization increased, and large mobilizations of both pro- and anti-government groups became frequent, often leading to clashes.

By 1972, the economic progress of Allende's first year had been reversed and the economy was in crisis. Simultaneously, the CIA funded opposition media, politicians, and organizations, helping to accelerate a campaign of domestic destabilization. The Nixon administration brought international financial pressure to bear in order to restrict economic credit to Chile. and other foreign-owned companies led to increased tensions with the United States.

The nationalization of U.S. The Indian Peoples Development Corporation and the Mapuche Vocational Institute were founded to address the needs of Chile's indigenous population. Other reforms undertaken during the early Allende period included redistribution of millions of hectares of land to landless agricultural workers as part of the agrarian reform program, giving the armed forces an overdue pay increase, and providing free milk to children. Industrial output increased sharply and unemployment fell during the Allende administration's first year.

Many enterprises within the copper, coal, iron, nitrate, and steel industries were expropriated, nationalized, or subjected to state intervention. Much of the banking sector was nationalized. Joint public-private public works projects helped reduce unemployment. Allende adopted measures including price freezes, wage increases, and tax reforms, which had the effect of increasing consumer spending and redistributing income downward.

Production fell and unemployment rose. An economic depression that began in 1967 peaked in 1970, exacerbated by capital flight, plummeting private investment, and withdrawal of bank deposits by those opposed to Allende's socialist program. The Popular Unity platform also called for nationalization of foreign (U.S.) ownership of Chile's major copper mines. Allende's program included advancement of workers' interests; a thoroughgoing implementation of agrarian reform; the reorganization of the national economy into socialized, mixed, and private sectors; a foreign policy of "international solidarity" and national independence; and a new institutional order (the "people's state" or "poder popular"), including the institution of a unicameral congress.

Frei refused to form an alliance with Alessandri to oppose Allende, on the grounds that the Christian Democrats were a workers party and could not make common cause with the oligarchs. Despite pressure from the government of the United States, the Chilean Congress, keeping with tradition, conducted a runoff vote between the leading candidates, Allende and former president Jorge Alessandri and chose Allende by a vote of 153 to 35. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende Gossens, a Marxist physician and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP or "Unidad Popular") coalition of the Socialist, Communist, Radical, and Social-Democratic Parties, along with dissident Christian Democrats, the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU), and the Independent Popular Action, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals.

By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Jorge Alessandri succeeded Ibáñez in 1958, bringing Chilean conservatism back into power democratically for another term.

In 1952, voters returned Ibáñez, now reincarnated as a sort of Chilean Perón, to office for another 6 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged.

By relinquishing power to a democratically elected successor, Ibáñez del Campo retained the respect of a large enough segment of the population to remain a viable politician for more than thirty years, in spite of the vague and shifting nature of his ideology. The longest lasting of the ten governments between those years was that of General Carlos Ibáñez, who briefly held power in 1925 and then again between 1927 and 1931 in what was a de facto dictatorship, although not really comparable in harshness or corruption to the type of military dictatorship that has often bedeviled the rest of Latin America, and certainly not comparable to the violent and repressive regime of Augusto Pinochet decades later. A military coup led by General Luis Altamirano in 1924 set off a period of great political instability that lasted until 1932. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose.

Alessandri Palma's reformist tendencies were partly tempered later by an admiration for some elements of Mussolini's Italian Corporate State. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, Arturo Alessandri Palma, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. Hence the Chilean economy partially degenerated into a system protecting the interests of a ruling oligarchy. However, the Civil War had also been a contest between those who favored the development of local industries and powerful Chilean banking interests, particularly the House of Edwards who had strong ties to foreign investors.

The Chilean Civil War in 1891 brought about a redistribution of power between the President and Congress, and Chile established a parliamentary style democracy. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third, eliminating Bolivia's access to the Pacific, and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. In 1881, the government signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians, finally completing the conquest begun more than three centuries earlier.

The system of presidential absolutism eventually predominated, but wealthy landowners continued to control Chile. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José de San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists.

Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the Reconquista led to a prolonged struggle. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand—heir to the deposed king—was formed on September 18, 1810.

The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph, in 1808. The abolition of slavery in 1683 defused tensions on the frontier between the colony and the Mapuche land to the south, and permitted increased trade between colonists and Mapuches. Each time the Mapuche and other native groups revolted, the southern border of the colony was driven northward. Subsequent major insurrections took place in 1598 and in 1655.

A massive Mapuche insurrection that began in 1553 resulted in Valdivia's death and the destruction of many of the colony's principal settlements. Conquest of the land that is today called Chile took place only gradually, and the Europeans suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the local population. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. The first permanent European settlement, Santiago, was founded in 1541 by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants.

These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold but were turned back by the local population. In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the earth, the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan, discovered the southern passage now named after him, the Straits of Magellan.

The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's remoteness and the fierce opposition of the native population prevented extensive settlement. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-1536 called themselves the "men of Chilli.". Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley Casma in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the indigenous Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends" or "the deepest point of the Earth," or from the Aymara tchili meaning "snow"; another meaning attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of a bird call.

There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to one theory the Incas of Peru, who had failed to conquer the Araucanians, called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a tribal chief ("cacique") called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest. . It borders with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north. The Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile (help·info), IPA [re'puβlika de tʄile]) is a country in South America occupying a long coastal strip between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

The (CIA) World Factbook: Chile. Library of Congress country profile. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State, April 2005. Reporters without borders: Worldwide press freedom index 2005, ranked 50 out of 167 countries (fifth in Latin America after El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Uruguay).

Yale University/Columbia University: 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index, ranked 42 out of 146 countries (ninth in Latin America after Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia and Panama). World Economic Forum: Global Information Technology Report 2004-2005 - Networked Readiness Index, ranked 35 out of 104 countries (first in Latin America). Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: Globalization Index 2005, ranked 34 out of 62 countries (second in Latin America after Panama). A.T.

Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2005, ranked 21 out of 159 countries (tied with Japan) (first in Latin America). Save the Children: State of the World's Mothers 2005, ranked 17 out of 110 countries (tied with Argentina) (third in Latin America after Costa Rica and Cuba). Brown University: Fifth Annual Global E-Government Study (2005), ranked 13 out of 198 countries (first in Latin America). Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2005, average score: 1 (Free) (Costa Rica and Uruguay are the only two other Latin American countries with the highest score).

World Bank: Where is the Wealth of Nations? (2005) - Total wealth per capita, ranked 32 out of 118 countries (fourth in Latin America after Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil). World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index, ranked 23 out of 117 countries (first in Latin America). Fraser Institute: Economic Freedom of the World: 2005 Annual Report, ranked 20 out of 127 countries (tied with Belgium, Costa Rica and Hungary) (first in Latin America). IMD International: World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005, ranked 19 out of 60 economies (countries and regions) (first in Latin America).

Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal: 2006 Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 14 (free) out of 157 countries (first in Latin America). UNDP: Human Development Index 2005, ranked 37 out of 177 countries (second in Latin America after Argentina). The Economist: The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005, ranked 31 out of 111 countries (first in Latin America). Chilean wine.

Chilean Spanish. Chilean pharmaceutical policy. intervention in Chile. U.S.

Transportation in Chile. List of Chilean television channels. List of Chileans. List of Chilean companies.

Holidays in Chile. Foreign relations of Chile. Elections in Chile. Communications in Chile.

Chile Antarctic Geopolitics.