Geography (Chile)
=================


     Total area:
         756,950 km2
     Land area:
         748,800 km2; includes Isla de Pascua (Easter Island) and Isla Sala y Gomez
     Comparative area:
         slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana
     Land boundaries:
         6,171 km; Argentina 5,150 km, Bolivia 861 km, Peru 160 km
     Coastline:
         6,435 km
     Maritime claims:
       Contiguous zone:
         24 nm
       Continental shelf:
         200 nm
       Exclusive economic zone:
         200 nm
       Territorial sea:
         12 nm
     Disputes:
         short section of the southern boundary with Argentina is indefinite; Bolivia
         has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama
         area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Bolivia over Rio Lauca water
         rights; territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory)
         partially overlaps Argentine claim
     Climate:
         temperate; desert in north; cool and damp in south
     Terrain:
         low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged Andes in east
     Natural resources:
         copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum
     Land use:
         arable land 7%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 16%; forest and
         woodland 21%; other 56%; includes irrigated 2%
     Environment:
         subject to severe earthquakes, active volcanism, tsunami; Atacama Desert one
         of world's driest regions; desertification
     Note:
         strategic location relative to sea lanes between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
         (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)