laura.dwyer

__ **﻿Location:** __
This is a map of Chile. Chile is located on the South western coast of South America next to Argentina. Chile is located in the southern hemisphere which is the same hemisphere as Australia so we both share the same seasons at the same time. **[|about chile]** Click on this link underneath to see more interesting facts. media type="custom" key="10525940" click on the voki to hear it in spanish. the voki was saying : Did you know ??? That Chile is located in the southern hemisphere as australia so we both share the same seasons at the same time ..

__ Population: __
The population in Chile is approximately 17 million, most of the people live in the central part of Chile, because the north is a desert and the south is too cold, as its close to Antarctica. click on this link to see more interesting facts.

__ Language Spoken : __
The language that is spoken in Chile is mostly Spanish and there are some small indigenous populations that speak Mapuche language in the south and Quechua language in the north near Peru and Bolivia.

__ Currency: __
The currency in Chile is called peso it is just like our dollar but it has a different person on the front and it is a different colour. Chile peso has the same symbol as our dollar sign. This is 1000 peso's, which seems a lot, but it is only about $2 in Australian currency.



__ **Religion :** __
In Chile the religion is mainly Roman Catholic. There are also some people who are Protestant and some who are Jewish.

__ ** Attractions: ** __
Tourism is now very popular in Chile. People go there to visit the deserts in Northern Chile and then beautiful glaciers and snow capped mountains in Southern Chile. All along Chile is the famous "Andes Mountains Ranges" so there are lots of volcanoes, some of which are still active. Many people go to chile to ski or hike up these mountains and volcanoes!

__ **Culture and lifestyle:** __
Chile, like most of South America was colonised by the Spanish. As a result, much of chilean culture is similiar to that of Spain, but Chileans are very patriotic and love their country. Chileans love music, folk dancing, the national dance of Chile "la Cueca" is performed all over the country. Chileans also love their "siestas" which is the day time nap and most businesses and schools shut between 12-3 pm so people can go home and rest. Then afterwards most shops and businesses stay open very late, 10-11pm and then the Chileans love to go out and "fiesta", which means party in English.

Here are two people performing the Chilean Cueca dance underneath.



__ ** Government: ** __
Chilean is a republic with a democratically elected president. Current president is Sebastian Pinera, from a right wing government. Chile has had an unfortunate political history with about 30 years under a brutal dictatorship that did not end until the 1990's. Many Chileans came to live in Australia in the 1970's to escape the dictatorship.

__ ** How is Chile connected to the rest of the world ? ** __ Chile's main exports are mining products (copper), agriculture (fruit and vegetables are exported all over the world), and because southern Chile is near Antartica and lots of cold water, they have amazing seafood to export as well. Salmon is one of their main exports. Chile also exports lots of wine because of their great climate to grow grapes of all varieties.

Lots of people visit chile and tour around and look at all the famous attractions.

Like all of South America, Chileans love their soccer, or what they call "futbol". The whole country is addicted to this game and everyone follows a local team and then of course the Chilean team when the world cup is on every 4 years.

Tennis is also very popular, because Chile has had a couple of famous players reach grand slam tournaments, like Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez who have represented Chile in the Olympic games.

This is Nicolas Massu:

__ ** How is Chile connected to Australia? ** __

Chile is very similiar to Australia, because both countries have main exports in the Mining area. Chile exports lots of copper and other minerals, and because of this lots of Australian companies operate in chlle to share their expertise in the Mining area. For example last year, there was a famous story on the news of a chilean mine explosion with many men stuck underground. Australian companies were called in to help rescue the trapped miners, to help drill holes big enough for the men to get out from 700 metres below the surface.

Also Australia and Chile are very connected due to the many Chileans immigrating to Australia in the 1970's. As a result there are many Chilean influences here, like food, folk clubs/groups for the Chilean-Australians to enjoy.

Lots of Australians travel to South America and because Chile is the closest part of South America to Australia, most airlines like Qantas and Lan Chile fly direct to Chile first and then continue to all other parts of South America, like Argentina and Brazil.

This year Chile was connected to Australia due to an unusual natural weather event. An active volcano caused lots of disruptions to airlines in Australia because the ash from the volcano blew all the way to Australia and the conditions were too dangerous for most airlines to fly.

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 * __BY LAURA __**