Chile

Discover Chile

Fun Foods

Empanadas, Completo, Chorrillana, Sopaipillas, Churros

Chile is a long, skinny country squeezed between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. The Spanish arrived in 1541 when Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago. But the Mapuche kept fighting in what became known as the Arauco War.

Independence came in 1818 after Bernardo O'Higgins and Argentine hero José de San Martín defeated the Spanish. O'Higgins became Chile's first leader and is still celebrated as the father of the nation.

Today, the Mapuche make up about 12% of Chile's population and continue to fight for their ancestral lands.

Chile has given the world two Nobel Prize winning poets. Gabriela Mistral became Latin America's first Nobel laureate in 1945.

Pablo Neruda won in 1971 and remains one of the most loved poets on Earth. His love poems make people cry in every language.

The country's history has dark chapters too. On September 11, 1973, the military bombed the presidential palace and overthrew elected President Salvador Allende.

General Augusto Pinochet ruled as dictator until 1990. More than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared, and tens of thousands were tortured.

Democracy returned in 1990, and Chile has been rebuilding ever since. Today, the country welcomes visitors to some of the most stunning landscapes on Earth.

Take your family to Torres del Paine in Patagonia, where glaciers and mountains will make your jaw drop. The Atacama Desert has the clearest skies on Earth for stargazing.

Easter Island has those giant stone heads called moai that nobody fully understands. Isla Magdalena lets you walk among thousands of penguins.

Chileans eat empanadas stuffed with beef, onions, olives, and hard-boiled eggs. Pastel de choclo is a sweet corn casserole layered with meat. Mote con huesillo is a cold drink made with wheat and dried peaches that kids love on hot days.

Fiestas Patrias on September 18 is the biggest celebration of the year. Families gather at fondas to eat, dance the cueca, and fly kites.