Chile

South America

Southern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru.

Por la razón o la fuerza "By reason or force" (Spanish)		27.0591258S 65.9179687W
President Sebastián Piñera

Capital
Santiago

Government
Unitary presidential republic

Religion
Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3%.
 
Population
17,094,270

Ethnic group
White and white-Amerindian 95.4%, Mapuche 4%, other indigenous groups 0.6%.

National Language                    
Spanish (official), Mapudungun, German, English
           
National Day
February 12, 1818 from Spain

Anthem
Himno Nacional de Chile (Spanish)

Currency
Peso (CLP)

Attractions
Christ of the Andes [with Argentina], Easter Island, Lake District [with Argentina], Osorno Volcano, Portillo, Tierra del Fuego [with Argentina], Torres del Paine

Website      

Art & Cultural

The ICON

Easter Island statues (Moai)                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Moai, or mo‘ai , are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moai have overly large heads three-fifths the size of their bodies. The moai are chiefly the living faces (aringa ora) of deified ancestors (aringa ora ata tepuna). The statues still gazed inland across their clan lands when Europeans first visited the island, but most would be cast down during later conflicts between clans. The 887 statues' production and transportation is considered a remarkable creative and physical feat. The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighed 82 tons; the heaviest erected was a shorter but squatter moai at Ahu Tongariki, weighing 86 tons; and one unfinished sculpture, if completed, would have been approximately 21 metres (69 ft) tall with a weight of about 270 tons.

Moai