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GovernmentCountry name
Conventional long form Republic of Chile
Conventional short form Chile Local long form Republica de Chile Local short form Chile Government type
Republic
Capital
Name Santiago
Geographic coordinates 33 27 S, 70 40 W Time difference UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) Daylight saving time +1hr, begins third Sunday in August; ends second Sunday in May; note - the end of DST was delayed until 8 May 2011 due to the ongoing energy crisis Note Valparaiso is the seat of the national legislature Administrative divisions
15 regions (regiones, singular - region); Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo, Antofagasta, Araucania, Arica y Parinacota, Atacama, Biobio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Los Rios, Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana (Santiago), 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 several times Legal system
Civil law system influenced by several West European civil legal systems; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court International law organization participation
Has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction Suffrage
18 years of age; universal and compulsory Executive branch
Chief of state
President Sebastian PINERA Echenique (since 11 March 2010); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government Head of government President Sebastian PINERA Echenique (since 11 March 2010) Cabinet Cabinet appointed by the president Elections President elected by popular vote for a single four-year term; election last held on 13 December 2009 with runoff election held on 17 January 2010 (next to be held in December 2013) Election results Sebastian PINERA Echenique elected president; percent of vote - Sebastian PINERA Echenique 51.6%; Eduardo FREI 48.4% Legislative branch
Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (38 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve eight-year terms; one-half elected every four years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (120 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) Elections Senate - last held on 13 December 2009 (next to be held in December 2013); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 13 December 2009 (next to be held in December 2013) Election results Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CPD 9 (PDC 4, PPD 3, PS 2), APC 9 (RN 6, UDI 3); Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 58 (UDI 37, RN 18, other 3), CPD 57 (PDC 19, PPD 18, PS 11, PRSD 5, PC 3, other 1), PRI 3, independent 2; note - as of 1 February 2012, the composition of the entire legislature is as follows: Senate - seats by party - CPD 19 (PDC 9, PPD 4, PS 5, PRSD 1), APC 16 (RN 8, UDI 8), independent 2, MAS 1; Chamber of Deputies - seats by party - APC 57 (UDI 39, RN 18), CPD 53 (PDC 19, PPD 18, PS 11, PRSD 5), independent 5, PC 3, PRI 2 Judicial branch
Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the president and ratified by the Senate from lists of candidates provided by the court itself; the president of the Supreme Court is elected every three years by the 20-member court); Constitutional Tribunal (eight-members - two each from the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Supreme Court, and National Security Council - review the constitutionality of laws approved by Congress) Political parties and leaders
Broad Social Movement or MAS; Clean Chile Vote Happy or CLVF (including Broad Social Movement, Country Force, and Independent Regionalist Party or PRI); Coalition for Change or CC (also known as the Alliance for Chile (Alianza) or APC) (including National Renewal or RN [Carlos LARRAIN Pena], Independent Democratic Union or UDI [Juan Antonio COLOMA Correa], and Chile First [Vlado MIROSEVIC]); Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertacion) or CPD (including Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Ignacio WALKER], Party for Democracy or PPD [Carolina TOHA Morales], Radical Social Democratic Party or PRSD [Jose Antonio GOMEZ Urrutia], and Socialist Party or PS [Osvaldo ANDRADE]); Partido Ecologista del Sur; Together We Can Do More (including Communist Party or PC [Guillermo TEILLIER del Valle], and Humanist Party or PH [Danilo MONTEVERDE]) Political pressure groups and leaders
Roman Catholic Church, particularly conservative groups such as Opus Dei; United Labor Central or CUT includes trade unionists from the country's five largest labor confederations Other Revitalized university student federations at all major universities International organization participation
APEC, BIS, BRICS, CAN (associate), CD, CELAC, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OECD (Enhanced Engagement, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Diplomatic representation in the us
Chief of mission Ambassador Felipe BULNES
Chancery 1732 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 Telephone [1] (202) 785-1746FAX [1] (202) 887-5579 Consulate(s) general Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico) Diplomatic representation from the us
Chief of mission Ambassador Alejandro D. WOLFF
Embassy Avenida Andres Bello 2800, Las Condes, Santiago Mailing address APO AA 34033Telephone [56] (2) 330-3000 FAX [56] (2) 330-3710, 330-3160 Flag description
Two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; a blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of the white band; the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center representing a guide to progress and honor; blue symbolizes the sky, white is for the snow-covered Andes, and red represents the blood spilled to achieve independence Note Design was influenced by the US flag National symbol(s)
Huemul (mountain deer); Andean condor National anthem
Name
"Himno Nacional de Chile" (National Anthem of Chile) Lyrics/music Eusebio LILLO Robles and Bernardo DE VERA y Pintado/Ramon CARNICER y Battle Note Music adopted 1828, original lyrics adopted 1818, adapted lyrics adopted 1847; under Augusto PINOCHET"s military rule, a verse glorifying the army was added; however, as a protest, some citizens refused to sing this verse; it was removed when democracy was restored in 1990
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Chile (Santiago):
 
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Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the Inca ruled northern Chile while the indigenous Mapuche inhabited central and southern Chile. Although Chile declared its independence in 1810, decisive victory over the Spanish was not achieved until 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its present northern regions. It was not until the 1880s that the Mapuche Indians were completely subjugated. After a series of elected governments, the three-year-old Marxist government of Salvador ALLENDE was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup led by Augusto PINOCHET, who ruled until a freely elected president was installed in 1990. Sound economic policies, maintained consistently since the 1980s, have contributed to steady growth, reduced poverty rates by over half, and have helped secure the country's commitment to democratic and representative government. Chile has increasingly assumed regional and international leadership roles befitting its status as a stable, democratic nation.