Chile

F

Education

Chile’s modern education system had its origins in the mid-19th century. Today, Chile has one of the best educational systems in Latin America. Education is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 13. The school system is administered by the national government under the minister of education. The national literacy rate of 97 percent is one of the highest in Latin America. Chile conducted intensive adult literacy campaigns in the 1980s and initiated adult education programs in the 1990s.

In 2000, 1.8 million students were enrolled in primary schools and 1.4 million were enrolled in secondary schools. Chile also has a national preschool program. Among the institutions of higher education, the University of Chile (founded in 1738), a state-operated university in Santiago, is highly respected throughout the world. Other centers of higher learning include the Catholic University of Chile (1888), also in Santiago; the University of Concepción (1919); the Catholic University of Valparaíso (1928); and several technical universities. Most of the regional capitals have a university. Total annual enrollment in institutions of higher education in 2002–2003 was 521,609.

G

Cultural Life

The culture of Chile is largely Spanish. Two lively and contrasting cultural strains predominate in Chile: the cosmopolitan culture of the affluent urban population, and the popular culture of the peasants, which is predominantly Spanish but contains traces of Araucanian heritage. The latter influences are strongest in Chilean music and dance.

Chile has a flourishing literary tradition and has produced two Nobel Prize winners in literature, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, both poets. This literary tradition dates back to the 1500s, when soldier-poet Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga wrote what is considered the greatest Spanish American epic poem, La Araucana, about the Spanish struggle against the Araucanians. The names of some of the Indian heroes of the poem are cherished by Chileans.

---

---

During the early years of independence Chile was a center for intellectual exiles, around whom a generation of talented writers flourished. The greatest of the exiles was Venezuelan jurist, grammarian, educator, and poet Andrés Bello, who lived in Chile from 1829 until his death in 1865. Bello organized the National University of Chile in 1842. Exiles from Argentina, among them Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, later president of Argentina, brought South American romanticism, which had begun in Argentina, to Chile. It was also in Chile, at the end of the 19th century, that the modernist movement in Spanish American literature got its first focus with the publication in 1888 of Azul, a book of poems by Nicaraguan Rubén Darío. Darío, considered to be one of the greatest Latin American poets, was living in Chile at the time.

In the late 19th century and the 20th century Chile produced many top-flight historians and writers of fiction. The best-known fiction writers are Alberto Blest Gana, one of the first realistic novelists in the Spanish language; Eduardo Barrios, the writer of several penetrating psychological novels; Manuel Rojas, a novelist who often incorporated his own experiences into his works; and Maria Luisa Bombal, one of the finest writers of psychological short stories in the Spanish language. Chilean novelists José Donoso and Isabel Allende both spent time in exile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Allende won popular acclaim in Latin America, Europe, and North America during the 1980s and 1990s. However, the best-known Chilean writers internationally are the two Nobel Prize winners, Neruda and Mistral.

Colonial painting in Chile was not outstanding. The best-known 20th-century artist to come from Chile was surrealist painter Roberto Matta Echaurren, who spent much of his life in France and the United States.

The folk music of Chile is of Spanish origin and came to Chile via Peru and Argentina. The national folk song and dance is the spirited cueca, or zamacueca, a courtship dance performed with handkerchiefs that is of Peruvian origin. The zapateo, a dance with intricate footwork, is also popular in Chile.

H

Cultural Institutions

Chile’s most important cultural institutions are concentrated in the large cities of the central region. These institutions include the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Historical Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History, all located in Santiago, and the Natural History Museum in Valparaíso. The Salvador Allende Museum of Solidarity, which features contemporary works by artists from around the world, opened in Santiago in 1999. The country’s largest library is the National Library in Santiago, with about 3.5 million volumes. It is one of the best libraries in Latin America.

IV

Economy

The Chilean economy has been dominated by the production of copper since the early 20th century. Chile remained the world’s leading producer and exporter of copper in the early 21st century. Beginning in the 1940s the government worked to diversify the economy, rapidly expanding the industrial sector. In the 1970s and 1980s the government made efforts to improve the neglected agricultural section and to reduce the country’s dependence on imported food. Today Chile is one of the leading industrial nations in Latin America as well as one of its largest mineral producers. Chile is also known for its fruit and wine production. By the end of the 1980s fruit ranked second to copper in export earnings. However, fruit production has since suffered as a result of drought and weather patterns created by El Niño.

During the period of military rule from 1973 to 1990, the government played a less prominent role in the economy and most nationalized companies were returned to private ownership. Since the return to civilian government in 1990, spending on social welfare has increased, although exports, business investments, and consumer spending have also grown. Privatization of industry has continued but at a slower pace. In 2005 the national budget had $21.6 billion in revenues and $28.1 billion in expenditures. Chile’s estimated gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 was $115.2 billion.

A

Agriculture

About 13 percent of the labor force of Chile is engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, and these sectors account for 6 percent of the GDP. The bulk of Chile’s agricultural activity is concentrated in the Central Valley except for sheep raising in the far south. Since the 1960s agrarian land-reform programs have been instrumental in increasing the number of small landowners, and modern farming methods have increased productivity. While only 3 percent of Chile’s land area is currently under cultivation, agricultural production has increased significantly since the early 1980s. Chile is one of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest exporters of fruits, sending much of its crop to North America, where the fresh produce enjoys a market advantage due to the inverted growing season. The country also has an important wine-making industry. During the 1990s Chilean wines gained popularity abroad, especially in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Leading crops in 2005, with production in metric tons, included fruits—particularly grapes and apples (1.9 million)—vegetables (2.8 million), root crops such as sugar beets and potatoes (1.1 million), and maize (1.5 million). Fruits and vegetables contributing to export income included asparagus, avocados, beans, citrus fruits, garlic, grapes, nuts, onions, peaches, pears, and plums.

Sheep are raised in large numbers in the Tierra del Fuego and the Magallanes regions of Chilean Patagonia. The country had about 3.4 million head of sheep in 2005, with a wool output of 14,000 metric tons. Other livestock include cattle, pigs, and horses.

	More from Encarta
	•  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain