Chile

Chile Visas are issued on arrival. US Citizens pay $140 per person. A passport valid for six months after date of entry is required. Visitors must hold return/onward tickets and all documents required for their next destination.

Hepatitis A and B, Tetanus, and Typhoid immunizations are recommended for all travelers. Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the CDC’s Internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel

Cusco, Peru

Chile – country code +56. Most areas will have mobile access and Internet available. Some areas while trekking may not have mobile access.

Chile – Electrical current is 220 volts, 50Hz (Type C; electrical plug has two circular pins)

Make two photocopies of valuables such as your passport, tickets, visas and travelers’ cheques.  Keep one copy with you in a separate place to the original and leave another copy with someone at home.

Be sure to inform your credit card company as well as your bank you will travel internationally into South America. This will eliminate any credit card holds for fraudulent activity.

Carrying cash, an ATM or traveler’s check card and also a credit card that can be used for cash advances in case of emergency is advisable. The best places to exchange money are normally bureau de change, which are fast, have longer hours and often give slightly better rates than banks. Local currency is Chilean Peso (CLP), however most places do not accept USD. Better hotels, lodges, and camps will accept credit cards, however it is advised to withdraw cash when visiting remote areas and villages.

Chile takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is both head of state and head of government.

Citizens of Chile most commonly identify themselves as Christian (Catholic with an estimated 70%). Other denominations include: Protestant or Evangelical, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jewish, Baha’I and Muslim.

Ethnically, the Chilean population is estimated at nearly 95% white and mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian); 3% Amerindian; and 2% other. Mixtures between the conquering Spaniards, largely Andalusians and Basques, and the Mapuches (Araucanians) produced the principal Chilean racial type. An indigenous population of perhaps as many as 600,000 pure Mapuches live mainly in Temuco and in the forest region south of the Bio Bio River. Remnants of other small tribal groups are found in isolated oases within the northern desert or live nomadic existence on the archipelagos and islands of the extreme southern coast. A small minority of Germans and their descendents live in the Valdivia-Puerto Montt area.

The Republic of Chile is an overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking country, with the exception of isolated native and immigrant communities.

The economy of Chile is ranked as an upper-middle income economy and is one of South America’s most stable and prosperous nations, leading Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. However, it has high economic inequality. The Ease of doing business index lists Chile high in the world that encompasses better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights. Some major agriculture products of Chile includes grapes, apples, pears, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, beans, beef, poultry, wool, fish and timber. Chile’s position in the Southern Hemisphere leads to an agricultural season cycle opposite to those of the principal consumer markets, primarily located in the Northern Hemisphere. Chile’s extreme north-south orientation produces 7 different macro-regions which allows the country itself to stagger harvests. Chile is the 2^nd largest producer of salmon in the world. Thanks to a large amount of copper resources, progressive legislation and a healthy investment environment, Chile has become the copper mining capital of the world, producing over 1/3 of the global copper output. Chile is the 5^th largest exporter of wine. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy.

Chile within its borders hosts at least 7 major climatic subtypes, ranging from desert in the north, to alpine tundra and glaciers in the east and southeast, humid subtropical in Easter Island, Oceanic in the south and Mediterranean climate in central Chile. There are 4 seasons in most of the country: summer (December to February), autumn (March to May), winter (June to August), and spring (September to November). On a synoptic scale the most important factors that controls the climate in Chile are the Pacific Anticyclone, the southern circumpolar low pressure area, the cold Humboldt current, the Chilean Coast Range and the Andes Mountains.