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City Profile: Santiago, Chile Important Information About the City of Santiago

Santiago de Chile, a city sitting on an inland plain, is a city that continues to grow. It’s considered the most modern city in Latin America, with its impressive high-rise architecture, modern infrastructure, and expansive suburban development. It is said that construction never stops in Santiago. It is a city that’s always on the move.

The city of Santiago has a population of roughly 6.4 million and is refreshingly cosmopolitan. Santiago has a multi-ethnic society. More than half of the total population has predominantly European ancestry and most of them have Spanish roots. Almost half of the citizens are mestizos, while the remaining minority comes from different indigenous Indian communities, with the largest group being the Mapuche community. A distinctly accented form of Chilean Spanish or Castellano de Chile is spoken throughout the city and the whole country. Other minor languages spoken in the capital are the indigenous languages of Mapudungun, Quechua, Aymara, and Rapa Nui. Many locals in the city are able to speak English since the government has decreed that English be taught in both public and private schools. It is the language spoken for business communication. However, don’t expect that everyone in the city could speak English very well. French, on the other hand is used together with English in the tourist centers.

Santiago has a vibrant arts and culture scene. There are hip and bohemian neighborhoods with very significant artistic presence. Jazz music is the soul of the city. Jazz clubs are found in every corner of the city, and jazz artists from all over come to the city to play and feed off from the locals’ love for jazz. Santiago is also a modern city that strives to keep up with the demands of the times. The city seems to never run out of construction projects and developments. Santiago could afford keeping up with developments because it has a strong and steady economy. These are some of the reasons why many foreigners and Chileans from all over the country are drawn to the city to build their lives or businesses there.

Geographically, the city of Santiago lies on latitude 33° 27’ south and longitude 70° 40’ west. The city occupies an area of 641 square kilometers or 247.6 square miles. It sits in the middle of a wide bowl-shaped valley called the Santiago Basin, at an elevation of 1,706.04 feet or 520 meters above sea level. The basin measures 35 kilometers or 21.75 miles east to west, and 80 kilometers or 49.71 miles from north to south. The valley itself is blessed with broad, fertile lands and surrounded by mountain ranges. The Andes looms to the east, the Chilean Coastal Range to the west, Cordón de Chacabuco to the north, and Angostura de Paine to the south. Santiago also contains hilly areas and a few active volcanoes, with the tallest one being the Tupungato Volcano at 21,555 feet or about 6,570 meters. Río Mapocho or the Mapocho River, meaning “water that penetrates the land” in Mapuche language, is a river that flows from the Andes and into Santiago. The river splits into two branches around Huelén Hill, dividing the city into two from north to east or south to west, before it reconnects downstream.

Santiago is the federal capital and the largest city in Chile. It is the center of Gran Santiago, or the Greater Santiago Area. As the financial and industrial center of Chile, it is also one of the most important and largest in Latin America.

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Santiago has a climate bordering on semi-arid, almost like a Mediterranean climate. Summer from November to March is dry and hot, with temperatures that could rise to 35 °C or 95 °F. Summer nights are slightly cooler and more pleasant. Winter from June to August is cold and humid, with an average daily temperature of 13 °C or about 55.4 °F. Winter mornings are very cold, and temperatures sometimes drop just a few degrees below zero. It rarely snows in the city, but it does in the Andes and Precordillera mountain range. Rainfall is concentrated during the months of May to September. Winds are usually calm and come from the southwest with an average speed of 15 kilometers per hour.

Santiago has some environmental issues to address, one of which is thermal inversion, which occurs when a layer of warm air holds colder air down closer to the ground, causing air pollution and smog especially during the winter months. Another is the contamination of the Mapocho River which cuts through the city diagonally. The river is contaminated with agricultural, household and industrial wastes. Plans are underway to make the river cleaner and more navigable.

Santiago is generally a safe place for tourists. However, be reminded to not take unnecessary risks like walking alone in poorly-lit streets at night, bringing huge amounts of money, wearing flashy and expensive jewelry or carrying an expensive camera and other personal gadgets. Avoid large crowds in the downtown area, especially at night. Unfortunately, petty theft is a common crime in the city, and women’s purses are usually the targets.

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History of Santiago

It was Pedro de Valdivia, a Spanish Conquistador who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. He named it Santiago de Nueva Extremadura in honor of St. James and his hometown of Extremadura in Spain. Nueva Extremadura was also the original name given to Chile. Huelén Hill was the site of the founding ceremony. Valdivia chose the specific location of Santiago due to its fertile land, pleasant climate, and its potential for easy defense. From the beginning, Manco Cápac II, the Inca ruler in the area, warned the Conquistadores that they (the Incas) would be hostile towards them. Valdivia and his men initially experienced hardships like food shortages because the natives were depriving them of resources they needed to survive. The situation only worsened when the natives of Santiago continued to resist the Spaniards, leading to a series of conflicts between the indigenous population and the foreign invaders. One such conflict was led by Michimalonco, a Picunche chief. He instigated an attack on Santiago on September 11, 1541. The attack extended into a three-year war which almost bogged down the remaining Spaniards. Valdivia sent Alonso de Monroy, an emissary, to the Spaniards in Peru to ask for help. It took de Monroy 20 months to return to Santiago with reinforcements. The Spaniards retaliated, forcing the natives to retreat south. Eventually, the Spaniards were able to settle in the area and build a town despite occasional setbacks like natural disasters such as earthquakes and surprise attacks or minor uprisings from indigenous groups.

The city gradually experienced growth during the 17th and 18th centuries, due to construction and immigration. Roads, residences, churches, and important town buildings were built using stone and adobe, which were abundant in the area. By 1779, a bridge was built to link the two parts of the city that was divided by the Mapocho River.

Chile gained independence from Spain shortly after the decisive Battle of Chacabuco on February 12, 1817. Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín led the combined armies of Chile and Argentina as they fought bravely against the Spanish army and Spanish royalists. Spain only recognized the declaration of independence formally in 1840. O’Higgins then became the very first head of state in Chile in 1817 and declared Santiago as the federal capital of Chile. In reality, he was a supreme dictator.

During the authoritarian era from 1830-1891, cultural life started to flourish. Universities like Universidad de Chile and museums like the National Museum of Natural History were founded, and an education system was introduced. Urban development was given priority. The roads were paved, tram services were set up, and many new buildings were constructed. A railroad station in the city opened in 1884. In 1885, Santiago’s population was 189,322. This would suddenly rise by 1960 to nearly two million residents.

In the early 1900s, Santiago became a prosperous city due to wealth coming in from mines nearby. In the 1930s, Santiago started transitioning into a modern, industrialized city. For the decades that followed, the city went through expansion and development. Chileans from the north and south migrated into the city in search of jobs and a better life. As Santiago continued to expand, the wealthy society moved from the city center to reside in posh neighborhoods like La Reina and Las Condes. The city center then became a hub for banking, trading, and government activities. Majority of the city’s growth wasn’t regulated and controlled, and poverty-stricken neighborhoods sprung up in some areas within the city. In 1958, a plan to regulate urban areas was undertaken. New industrial centers, residential blocks, and roads were built, and the existing ones improved. When Chile hosted the World Cup in 1962, public works were undertaken to improve the city. It was only during the military regime in 1973-1980 that no major urban development was undertaken in the city. Today, Santiago is a fast-growing city that’s continuously keeping up with the demands of modern times.

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Demographics of Santiago

Based from a census conducted in 2002, the population in the city of Santiago was pegged at 6.4 million, accounting for one-third of the whole country’s population. In recent years, population in Santiago has been steadily rising. Based on the same census, 67.6% of Santiago’s residents were born in different communes within the capital, 2.11% are immigrants from neighboring countries like Argentina and Peru, while the rest comprise of those born in other parts of Chile. Santiago is a multi-ethnic society, with the majority having European ancestry. A big part of the citizenry has Spanish roots, while others are of English, French, German, Italian, and Swiss descent. Almost the other half of the population are mestizos – a mix of Indian and White race. The minority comes from various indigenous Indian communities. The largest indigenous minority group belongs to the Mapuche community.

Spanish is the lingua franca of Santiago and the rest of Chile. It is a distinctly accented form of Chilean Spanish, or Castellano, a variant of the Spanish language. What sets it apart from the Spanish spoken in other Latin American countries is that the “s” sounds and last syllables are dropped, and some consonants are pronounced more softly. Other minor languages spoken in the capital are the languages of indigenous communities: Mapudungun, Quechua, Aymara, and Rapa Nui. Many locals in the city could speak English since the government has decreed that English be taught in public schools from the fifth grade onwards and in private schools as early as kindergarten. There are also some basic English words incorporated into everyday Spanish. Most locals are able to speak basic English or know some English words, except for some from the poorer neighborhoods.

Economic backgrounds vary within the city. Generally, the western side of the city is home to the poorer community. On the western side, buildings and transport facilities are crowded, most roads are unpaved, and housing provisions are inadequate. Also, crime and graffiti are more prevalent. Beggars and homeless people are common in the downtown area, as are stray dogs.

Based on the 2002 census, 68.7% of the population is of the Catholic faith, 13.1% belong to the Evangelical Protestants, and 7.8% comprises of other religions like Jehovah’s Witness, Mormons, Jewish, Orthodox, Muslim and others. Nearly 10.4% of the population declared they were either agnostics or atheists.

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Economy of Santiago

Santiago is the financial, industrial, retail, and agricultural hub of Chile. It is also one of the most important and largest financial centers in Latin America. The city is home to major banks and industries, business headquarters, international institutions like the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, and the Chilean Stock Exchange. Big industries in Santiago include farm-supply, manufacturing, marketing, mining, processing, retail, and transport and communications. Manufactured products include beef, dairy, clothing, footwear, textiles, and others. New industries include electronics and computer technology. International companies such as Coca-Cola, IBM, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Nestlé and Yahoo! have headquarters in Santiago. Major crops are beans, grains, grapes, and potatoes. Resources mined are copper, gypsum, and limestone. Many residents in the city work in the manufacturing industry. Others work in government institutions and service industries. Being Chile’s retail capital, the east side of Santiago is home to the city’s affluent neighborhoods, shops and businesses.

Construction is a consistently booming industry in Santiago. Aside from construction, improvements are also made on many high-rise residential buildings and apartment complexes, modern transportation and communications infrastructure, shopping malls, entertainment centers, and office buildings. The city never runs out of new construction projects.

Santiago also has the best-developed modern regional road and transport system in the country. Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport is the largest one in the country, and one of the busiest airports in the world. Santiago has a very extensive network of rail system. The TerraSur line connects Santiago to the southern region of Chile. It is operated by Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado, the major national railway company. Metro de Santiago, operated by Empresa de Transporte de Pasajeros Metro, is the most extensive metro network in South America. It carries over two million passengers daily with its 5 lines and 108 stations in operation. Covering 103 kilometers, it is the second longest metro system in South America, after the one in Mexico City. Metrotren is a suburban commuter rail. The public transport system in the city is Transantiago. There are lots of bus terminals in Santiago that provide passenger transport to different parts of the city and to many areas outside the capital. Taxicabs are common in the city, distinguished by their black color with orange license plates and yellow roofs.

Economic growth remains steady in Santiago, making it the most metropolitan city in Latin America. Santiago’s strong, steady economy and low government debt make it attractive to migrants from all over Chile and Latin America, Europe, and the US.

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Attractions in Santiago

Santiago is right smack in the middle of a region with numerous attractions. The heart of the city is its main plaza, Plaza de Armas, located at Alameda which is about five blocks south of the Mapocho River. The national cathedral and main post office are also found in the plaza. These days, the plaza has become both a meeting and recreation place for Peruvian immigrants residing in the city. This has made way for the setup of traditional Peruvian restaurants and food stores nearby. It’s an interesting place to take a walk during the day. Just a few blocks away is the Mercado Central, a traditional central market built during the nineteenth century in a British design. In the market you’ll find a wide variety of fresh local and exotic produce. Nearby is also Parque Forestal, a Parisian-style park designed by a French landscaper. It runs beside the Mapocho River and houses the Museo de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) and the Modern Art Museum.

Just across the Mapocho River is the Bellavista neighborhood, where one could find many cafés and restaurants. Within the area, there’s Parque Metropolitano, which is a perfect spot for the whole family to enjoy. It contains a botanical garden, playground, zoo, picnic areas, walking trails, and two swimming pools. From the park, one could get to the top of a hill called Cerro San Cristòbal by bus, cable car, funicular or by hiking. At the top of Cerro San Cristòbal, you’ll be rewarded with magnificent views of the city of Santiago and even the Andes on a clear, sunny day. Also in Bellavista is La Chascona, the house which was designed by Pablo Neruda, a Nobel Prize-winning poet who lived for some time in Santiago. La Chascona is one of Neruda’s three properties and named after his third wife. It contains many artworks and knickknacks that Neruda collected during his lifetime.

Aside from the Museo de Bellas Artes and the Modern Art Museum, another interesting museum in Santiago is the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino (Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art) located at Bandera 361. The museum houses artifacts dating from the Inca, Maya, and Olmec civilizations and discovered all over South America and Mesoamerica. Exhibits are presented in English and Spanish. Highlights of the museum include Andean mummies even older than Egyptian ones, and a Mayan stone stele. Other notable museums are the National Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum of San Pedro Nolasco and Salvador Allende Museum of Solidarity.

There are other interesting places to explore in the city. Iglesia de San Francisco is the oldest church in Santiago. It also houses a museum and is distinguished by its Moaï, an Easter Island sculpture, which stands guard over the entrance. Cerro Santa Lucia is a park located at the junction of Santa Lucia and Bernardo O’Higgins. The beautiful park has fountains and steps leading to the top of a hill where a fort is erected. The summit provides an amazing view of the city. Famous evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin once visited the summit. A plaque commemorates the event. Parque Bicentenario, located along Bicentenario Avenue, is a family-oriented park that offers picnic areas, walking trails, biking trails, cafés, restaurants, and a pond with an amusing sight of black-necked swans. Palacio Cousino is an old estate owned by a wealthy Spanish-Portuguese family. The place showcases a mix of French and Spanish architectural styles, furniture, décor, and accessories. Palacio de La Moneda is the Presidential Palace, accessible to the public via a guided tour. Underneath the Presidential Palace is the Centro Cultural Palacio de La Moneda, or the cultural center that hosts numerous art and cultural exhibitions year-round. There is also a café and a gift shop that sells local crafts and souvenirs.

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Santiago Culture

Santiago is a city that’s ambitious, cosmopolitan, confident, and cultured. It has a booming café culture and a flourishing arts and jazz scene. The city’s day-to-day cultural life has strong Latin American, European, and North American influences.

A great way to experience the culture of Santiago is to join city tours, one of which is the Spicy Chile free walking tour. Most city tours are very casual, with guides who are knowledgeable and at the same time interesting and humorous. The tours include visits to usual tourist spots, local markets, and old neighborhoods. When you explore the city, you’ll discover that Santiago is divided into neighborhoods each with their own distinct character. The neighborhood of Alameda is home to many museums, monuments, and parks. Bellavista is a hip, bohemian neighborhood where one would find a lot of art galleries, bars, boutiques, cafés, dance clubs, and restaurants. Lastarria is more of a traditional neighborhood for artists and also has art galleries, theaters, and restaurants. Las Condes is an affluent neighborhood with modern and spacious residences, high-end shops and businesses, and two big shopping centers. Brasil was once an affluent neighborhood at the beginning of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, the neighborhood was revived by artists and craftsmen and has since been infused with a bohemian and youthful vibe with its quirky specialty shops and restaurants. Providencia has bars and restaurants, ideal for casual al fresco dining.

There are many interesting activities you could try out while in Santiago. Since the city is surrounded by mountains, it’s a great venue for hiking, mountain climbing, and skiing. El Colorado, La Parva, and Valle Nevado are some of the ski resorts located at the eastern side of the city.

Music is an essential part of Santiago. The city is home to two symphonic orchestras, the Filarmónica de Santiago (Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra) that performs at Teatro Municipal, and the Orquestra Sinfónica de Chile (Symphonic Orchestra of Chile), which performs at the theater of the Universidad de Chile. Teatro Municipal is a well-known venue for the performing arts like dance and the opera. You could catch most performing arts in the city on Fridays and Saturdays. Santiago also has a flourishing jazz scene, and there are many jazz clubs located all over the city. Club de Jazz de Santiago is the oldest, most traditional and also said to be the best. This small club located in the Ñuñoa neighborhood hosts performances by some of the best local, national and foreign artists that play anything from Latin jazz, blues and bossa nova. Other notable jazz clubs are mostly located in the Bellavista neighborhood, with El Perseguidor, Le Fournil Jazz Club and Thelonius. In February, the city celebrates the Festival de Jazz de Providencia by the Mapocho riverside. It’s an exciting annual event that showcases some performances by local jazz bands and international guest acts. Santiago Centro Cultura Gabriela Mistral is a massive cultural center housing an art and film library, café, restaurant, theater, concert halls and public lounges.

If you take a tour around the city, you’ll also notice that there are only a handful of historical buildings left from the Spanish colonial era. That’s because Santiago and even the rest of Chile is prone to earthquakes. Many structures have been destroyed by earthquakes in the past. Some Spanish colonial buildings that have endured are Iglesia de San Francisco, Posada del Corregidor and Casa Colorada.

Santiago is home to many colleges, universities, libraries, and research institutions. Universidad de Chile in Santiago is the oldest university in Chile. It was originally named Universidad Santo Tomàs de Aquino when it was founded on August 19, 1622. During the reign of King Phillip V of Spain it was renamed Real Universidad de San Felipe. It was only when Chile gained independence from Spain, that it was named Universidad de Chile. Santiago has another old university, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, which was founded in 1888.

Without a doubt, football or soccer is the most popular sport in Chile, and support for the sport goes strong in Santiago. The city hosts many successful and popular football clubs. Rugby and tennis come only second to football clubs like Colo-Colo, Universidad de Chile and Club Deportivo Universidad Católica. Aside from soccer, rugby, basketball, and tennis are sports mostly enjoyed by Santiaguinos.

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Interesting Facts about Santiago

  • Santiago is the capital of Chile. The city is divided into 37 comunas, or political districts. Each comuna is led by an elected alcalde (mayor).
  • Santiago is the fifth largest city in South America. It is the largest city in Chile.
  • Santiago is the center of the Greater Santiago Area; a territory which includes the capital city of Santiago along with its 36 communes. All these areas combined make up the Province of Santiago. There are many places in Chile named Santiago, but when referring to the capital city, the term Greater Santiago (Gran Santiago) is used to avoid confusion.
  • Natives and inhabitants of the city of Santiago are called santiaguinas (females) and santiaguinos (males).
  • Santiago is also Chile’s financial, industrial, agricultural, and retail center. It is one of the top three financial hubs in South America, along with Buenos Aires, Argentina and São Paulo, Brazil. Due to steady economic growth, Santiago has become South America’s most metropolitan city.
  • Pablo Neruda, a Chilean native who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature, lived for some time in Santiago. He also died in the city.
  • Central Station is a railway station in Santiago designed by French architect Gustave Eiffel, famed designer and builder of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
  • Chile is prone to earthquakes because it contains many active volcanoes, sits on an active fault line, and is a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Santiago has experienced its share of earthquakes and other natural calamities.

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References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/chile/santiago
http://wikitravel.org/en/Santiago_de_Chile
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Santiago,_Chile
http://www.geographia.com/chile/santiago/index.htm
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191502068-santiago_vacations-i

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