Chile’s Government

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governed under a constitution of 1981 which was amended several times. The multiparty democracy has a directly elected president to serve for a four-year term. The president may not be elected for any consecutive terms. Another branch, the bicameral legislature consists of a 38-seat Senate. The members of the legislature each serve for eight years. Not only that, but another part of the government is the 120-seat Chamber of Deputies who are elected for four years. Chile’s flag is a red, white and blue banner with a white star. The blue square in the canton region of the flag represents the sky, the white stripe represents the snow of the Andes Mountains, and the red symbolizes the blood that was spilled fighting for freedom. The single star represents the powers of the government. The height of the flag is two-thirds the width. This flag was adopted on October 18, 1817, just before Chile won its independence from Spain in 1818. The money the Chilean use is the Chilean Peso. Chile’s GDP per capita is $18,700. Administratively, Chile is divided into thirteen regions, each exporting the product which is best fit to be produced in that area. Because agriculture is the main occupation of about 15% of the population, it is also 6% of the national wealth. The Vale of Chile is the country’s primary agricultural area where vineyards are the basis of Chile’s wine industry. Furthermore, Chile’s chief crops are grapes, apples, pears, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, and also beans. However, they do not produce fruits and vegetables only; they also have livestock production of beef, poultry and sheep. Sheep shaving is the chief occupation used for wool and meat that is exported to other countries for trade. Fishing and lumbering are also important to the economy. Chile also produces minerals (which are based on half of its total value of exports). Likewise, this country is the world’s largest producer of the nation’s most valuable source: copper. Copper is major in the produce along with all the other minerals, processed food, raw material, fish meal and other various consumer goods. As a result, so many different products make Chile the wealthiest nation of South America.

Chile may seem to be a smaller country than it really is on a map. In fact, it is just a little larger than Texas in the U.S. Chile is a truly great country with fantastic geographical features, magnificent fiestas, and an incredibly active economy.