An Introduction to Chile
Stretching from the cold, wild land of Tierra del Fuego in the South to the hostile Atacama desert in the north, Chile is today one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations and leads Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, economic and press freedom and low perception of corruption. Wealth, however, is relatively unequally shared at present. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Chile
GOVERNMENT: republic
AREA: 756,102 sq km
POPULATION: 16,888,760 (July 2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Spanish
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Chile
The similarity of its soil to that of Mars means it has been used as a location for film scenes and for testing instruments for NASA Mars missions. In 2003, a team of researchers were unable to detect any signs of microbial life in Atacama Desert soil - possibly unique on Earth.
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Stretching from the cold, wild land of Tierra del Fuego in the South to the hostile Atacama desert in the north, Chile is today one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations and leads Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, economic and press freedom and low perception of corruption. Wealth, however, is relatively unequally shared at present.
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, northern Chile was under Inca rule while the indigenous Mapuche inhabited the centre and south. Chile declared its independence from Spain on February 12, 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its current northern territory. Since then Chile has generally been free of the coups and arbitrary governments that have blighted the rest of South America, with the exception of the long military dictatorship (1973-1990) of Augusto Pinochet. In May 2010 Chile became the first South American nation to join the OECD.
GDP: $257.9 billion (PPP - 2010 est.) - $15,400 per capita
Religions Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3% (2002 census)
Currency: Peso (CLP) - $1 = CLP 797
Telephone Code: +56
Research Industry
Chile's MR industry saw a net growth of 5% in 2010 with turnover up to $110m from $92m in 2005. This means the Chilean industry is now ranked 31st in the world, behind Argentina and ahead of Indonesia.Chile has a market-oriented economy characterised by a high level of foreign trade and a reputation for strong financial institutions and sound policy that have given it the strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. During the early 1990s its democratic government continued economic reforms initiated by the military the previous decade. Since 1999, growth has averaged 4% per year. Chile claims to have more bilateral or regional trade agreements than any other country - 57 with partners including the European Union, Mercosur, China, India, South Korea, and Mexico.
GDP in 2010 grew at above 5 percent, despite the magnitude 8.8 earthquake which struck the country in February that year, one of the top ten strongest quakes on record.
Exports - $71bn in 2010 - account for more than a quarter of GDP, with commodities making up some three-quarters of the total. Copper alone provides one-third of government revenue. Other substantial export commodities are fruit, fish, paper, chemicals and wine. China leads the list of partners (23.8%) which also includes Japan, the USA, Brazil and South Korea. Imports, mainly from the USA and China, consist of petrol, chemicals, telecoms equipment, machinery, vehicles and natural gas and in 2010 were worth a shade over $55bn. Other major partners include Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Japan and Germany.
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