Chilean National Holiday

Independence Day

View of a fonda or ramada, one of the temporary buildings that house the celebrations. The Fiestas Patrias of Chile consists of two days: September 18, in commemoration of the proclamation of the First Governing Body of 1810, and marking the beginning of the Chilean independence process.

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile), is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty. Chile's 2002 census reported a population of 15 million people. The Spanish spoken in Chile is distinctively accented and quite unlike that of neighbouring South American countries because final syllables and "s" sounds are dropped, and some consonants have a soft pronunciation. Accent varies only very slightly from north to south; more noticeable are the small differences in accent based on social class or whether one lives in the city or the country.

Chile's northern desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. The relatively small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources, and is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands.