Chile
South American country, bounded north by Peru and Bolivia, east by
Argentina, and south and west by the Pacific Ocean.
Government
Under the 1981 constitution, which provided for a `transition to democracy´
by 1989, there is a president elected by universal suffrage for a four-year
term, and a bicameral legislature consisting of a senate with 38 elected
and nine appointed members and a chamber of deputies with 120 elected
members. Members of the senate serve for eight years and deputies for
four. The president was head of both state and government until 1995,
when a prime minister was appointed.
History
The area now known as Chile was originally occupied by a Native American
people, who called themselves Mapuche (warriors), and were called by
the Spanish Araucanian Indians. The area was invaded by the Incas in
the 15th century, but the Spanish conquest of the Incas in the 16th
century left the Araucanians in possession of a state of their own.
A portion of this area, along the slopes of the Andes from Copiapó to
Chiloé, is still inhabited by them.
The first European to reach Chile was Ferdinand Magellan, who in 1520
sailed through the strait now named after him. A Spanish expedition
under Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago in 1541, and Chile was
subsequently colonized by Spanish settlers who established an
agricultural society, although the Araucanians continued to rebel
until the late 19th century. Spanish colonial rule in Chile lasted
until 1810, when Chile repudiated its allegiance to the Spanish
crown. The struggle for independence began, under the leadership
of Bernardo , but Chile's geographical isolation meant that in
the wars of independence it was isolated from the mainstream of
events in South America. The independence of the country from
Spain was conclusively established by 1818.
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