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media type="custom" key="330151" =Country Name: Chile=

Social Groups
Chile was originally colonized by Spain. The people there today are mainly mestizo, or people of mixed Spanish and American Indian descent. The only major ethnic minority is the Arucanian Indians. There are only a few communities of English, French, German, Swiss, and Italian People. Most Chileans live in urban areas, and only 20 percent of Chileans live in rural areas. The major cities, such as Santiago, which is the capital of Chile, are located near the center of the country.

Language
Spanish is the main and official language in Chile, but Chileans speak Spanish a little differently. They call it //castellano//. Chileans like to add little word endings like //-ito// which means small, and is used affectionatley.

Religion
The main religion in Chile is Roman Catholic. more than 75 percent of the people are Roman Catholic. Almost 15 percent of the people are Protestant.

Daily Life
The main sport in Chile is soccer, and thousand s of Chileans come to the stadiums in principle cities to watch professional teams play. Chileans are also attracted to the sea. Skiing in the Andes, tennis, and yachting are popular too. Chileans like folk music and dance. The best known is the Cueca, which is a spirited dance of conquest and submission. Rodeos with huasos, or cowboys, dressed in colorful costumes is also extremely popular.Life for kids in Chile is very different than it is for us here in the U.S. Most kids in chile live in the Santiago area, but some live in small villages in remote areas. But no matter where they live, all the kids must put on their uniforms and go to school every weekday. Children must take public transportation to school since there are very few school buses in Chile. Chileans take education very seriously. All kids between the ages of 5 and 17 must go to school. Kids go to elementary school for 8 years, and the move on to secondary school for 4 years. There are many universities in Chile for those who want a higher education. After school and during recess, Chilean kids like to play hopscotch and marbles.

Art
Literature, but mainly poetry, is one of the most important Arts in Chile. The Chilean poets Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda both won the Nobel Prize for literature. Mistral won the prize in 1945, while Neruda won in 1971.The famous verse, " La Araucana", which is by Alonso Ercilla y Zunica, is considered by many to be the most important epic poem in the Spanish Language.The National Library located in Santiago is ranked as one of the largest libraries in Latin America. Also located in Santiago are the Palace of Fine Arts, and the National Ballet.

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__Physical Features Forrest Bell & Ben Beck__
===Land Forms-chile stretches 2672 miles along the western coast of south america, 10% of the world's volcanoes are in chile, one of the driest places in the world, the Atacama desert is in the north, some of the rainiest places in the world are in the south, the andes mountains form the eastern border, low mountains roll along the coast, fertile river basins called the central valley lie between the two mountain ranges, glaciers, snow-capped volcanoes, and thich forests lie in the south===

Water Forms
Chile has fairly short rivers which average from 100 to 300 miles in length. Most of the rivers start at the Andes mountains and flow west to the Atlantic Ocean. The Bio-Bio river, located in south central Chile, cuts straight through the coastal moountains. ===Climate-dry in the north, temperate in the mid-regions, and sub-arctic in the south, seasons are opposite of the northern hemisphere, north summer temps are 69 degrees F and winter are 57 degrees F, in central Chile temps in the winter are 48 Degrees F and in the summer they are 69 degrees F, in the south the summer temps are 59 degrees F, in the winter it is 46 degrees F, in the north it can go years without rain, the central area gets about 14 inches of rain per year and the south some areas can get up to 200 inches of rain!!!=== ===Animals-Chile's wildlife is simalar to the other South American countries surronding it. In the northern part of the Andes Mountains there are four types of camels, the guanaco, llama, alpaca, and vicuna. Some other animals in Chile's mountains are, deer, wolves, pumas, wildcats, and rodents. The forests in the south of Chile are home to foxes and small deer. Also the south is home to kangaroos and several other marsupials, or animals with pouches. The main birds of Chile are doves and ducks. Also, the Giant Condor is found in the Andes. The country has many amphibians, but don't be scared, their are hardly any poisonus animals. Lastly, salt water fish swim in the ocean by the coast.===

__Current Issues Charlie Biggerstaff__
===Current Events-On Sunday Nov. 4 2007 the presidents web page was hacked. The hacker left a picture of the Peruvian flag and the words "long live Peru." A few minutes later, the site was shut down, and officials began and investigation. As of Monday Nov. 5 2007 Fernando Gonzalez from Chile is ranked 7 in the world in men's tennis.===

===Government- Chile has a representative democracy government. The current president is Michelle Bachelet. Their National Congress consists of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Chile also has a Supreme Court.===

===Economy-The Chilean economy includes lots of mining and fishing. They are the world's largest producer of copper, and mines large amounts of iron, coal, molybdenum, gold, silver, manganese, oil and natural gas. Most of the country's food is grown in the central area. Chile also produces some textiles, appliances, building matierials, and some chemicals. The economy is market based. Chile has always been an economic leader in South America, and is known for having a lot of foreign trade. 1 U.S. Dollar is worth 506.799 Chilean Pesos.===

===History- Not much is known about Chile before the Spanish took over in the 1500s. The country gained independance in 1818. In 1925, Chile signed a new constitution that made it so that Congress and the President were elected. In 1970, Salvador Allende Gossens became the first elected communist president in the Western Hemisphere. 3 years later the economy collapsed and the military took over. General Augusto Pinochet became president. However he was more of a dictator because he took goverment control over most of the economy and gave himself an extra 8 years for his term. In 1888 Goverment control of the economy ended and in 1889 Pinochet was voted out of office and the democracy was re-born.===

Six (6) Photos[[image:chile2.gif width="468" height="312"]]








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