ABSTRACT
Extending more than 4,100 kilometres (2,600 miles) from north to south and at no point greater than 400 kilometres wide, Chile, a country of 13.6 million people (1992), has a wider range of climate and landscape than any other country in the world. To the east, the Andes Mountains separate Chile from Bolivia and most of Argentina; to the west is the Pacific Ocean. The frontier with Peru lies across the northern desert. Several Pacific islands are also part of Chile, including the Juan Fernandez Islands and the Easter Islands; Chile also claims a large part of Antarctica. Its total area is 757,000 square kilometres (292,300 square miles).
