Location:
Southern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru
Geographic coordinates:
30 00 S, 71 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area: Area - comparative: Land boundaries: Coastline: Maritime claims: Climate: Terrain: Elevation extremes: Natural resources: Land use: Irrigated land: Total renewable water resources: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): Natural hazards: Environment - current issues: Environment - international agreements: Geography - note:
total: 756,102 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 38
land:
743,812 sq km
water:
12,290 sq km
note:
includes Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and Isla Sala y Gomez
slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana
total: 6,339 km
border countries:
Argentina 5,308 km, Bolivia 860 km, Peru 171 km
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]
6,435 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone:
24 nm
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
continental shelf:
200/350 nm
temperate; desert in north; Mediterranean in central region; cool and damp in south
More Climate Details
low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged Andes in east
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
[see also: Elevation extremes - lowest point country ranks ]
highest point:
Nevado Ojos del Salado 6,880 m
copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum, hydropower
arable land: 1.74%
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops:
0.6%
other:
97.65% (2011)
11,990 sq km (2003)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]
922 cu km (2011)
[see also: Total renewable water resources country ranks ]
total: 26.67 cu km/yr (4%/10%/86%)
[see also: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total country ranks ]
per capita:
1,603 cu m/yr (2007)
severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis
volcanism:
significant volcanic activity due to more than three-dozen active volcanoes along the Andes Mountains; Lascar (elev. 5,592 m), which last erupted in 2007, is the most active volcano in the northern Chilean Andes; Llaima (elev. 3,125 m) in central Chile, which last erupted in 2009, is another of the country's most active; Chaiten's 2008 eruption forced major evacuations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Cerro Hudson, Copahue, Guallatiri, Llullaillaco, Nevados de Chillan, Puyehue, San Pedro, and Villarrica
widespread deforestation and mining threaten natural resources; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
the longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 38 degrees of latitude; strategic location relative to sea lanes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Atacama Desert - the driest desert in the world - spreads across the northern part of the country; the crater lake of Ojos del Salado is the world's highest lake (at 6,390 m)