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| Chile |
| Nature & Environment |
| Making up the left-hand side of South America's tapering tail, Chile's lean strip has been described by author Benjamín Subercaseaux as an extravaganza of `crazy geography'. It extends some 4300km (2666mi) from the desert north to the glacial south, is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and shuttered by the Andes on the east. | |
| Chile shares most
of its extensive eastern border with Argentina, and borders Peru and
Bolivia in the north. Rarely extending beyond 200km (124mi) in width,
Chile makes up for longitudinal mincing by rising rapidly from sea level
to 6000m (19,680ft) while the country's latitudinal extremes give it a
formidable array of landscapes. Snow-capped volcanoes plunge to river
canyons; the Great North, where some weather stations have never
recorded rainfall, is counterpoint to storm and snow-prone Patagonia; and
Chile's razored and sculpted coastline has endowed it with beaches and
bays perfect for fishing and swimming.
Chile also lays claim to the offshore territories of Easter Island (3700km/2294mi west), Juan Fernández (700km/434mi west) and half of the southern island of Tierra del Fuego (which it shares with Argentina). The variety of habitat supports distinctive flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive system of national parks - one of the country's major drawcards for visitors. In the parks, animals such as the endangered vicuña (a wild relative of the alpaca), the Patagonian guanaco (a wild relative of the Andean llama), flamingos, pelicans, penguins, otters and sea lions do the food chain thing. Chilean plant life includes stands of araucaria (the monkey-puzzle tree), cypress and rare alerce trees (similar to the giant redwoods of California). Outside protected areas, extensive logging denudes the landscape at an alarming, and increasing, rate. Chile's climate is as varied as its terrain, with arid but surprisingly temperate areas in the north, a heartland which enjoys a Mediterranean climate, and the wind, rain and snow-battered lands of Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in the south. The rainy season in the heartland is from May to August when temperatures are cooler, getting down to an average maximum temperature of 10°C (50°F) in July. January's neat gin average is 28°C (82°F). Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego have summer averages of just 11°C (52°F) but if you think that's manageable, muff up and get ready for the wind chill, baby. |
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