the longest and narrowest country in the world located on the shores of Western South America with a backdrop of the andian mountains to the east let's take a deep dive into the peculiar but beautiful country of Chile the history of Chile is marred by Conquest after Conquest occupation after occupation before the arrival of the Spanish dozens of native tribes lived in the mountain ranges in what is now Chile they lived by fishing and farming however the ever expanding Incan Empire was able to assert its dominance over the disperate tribes in the mountains the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s during the Conquering of the new world set into motion years marked by disease and War 500,000 natives lived in the area during this time the conquest by Spain began in 1536 with modern technology at that time they were able to invade the region as far south as the Maul River the Spanish forces headed by Diego de Almagro were searching for a second Peru a land of gold and civilization finding neither of the two they went back to Peru further Endeavors to conquer Chile were stopped until 1540 when Pedro de Valdivia was given license to conquer the area by none other than franc Cisco pizaro de Alm magro's rival they were able to establish the city and now the capital of Chile Santiago the defeat of Spain by Napoleon hit the final nail in the coffin for Spain and its colonies because of this defeat many Spanish colonies were cut off from the mainland forcing them to enact policies to ensure their survival this included further autonomy from the Empire and eventually self-government Chile's step towards Liberation started when a cabildo abierto or open town meeting was held in Santiago on September 18th 1810 soon after trade limitations were relaxed the abolition of slavery was put into motion and the establishment of a newspaper began but they were defeated in battle by a recuperated Spanish Empire which sent an army to quell the revolutionaries the defeated leaders including Bernardo O'Higgins and the Carrera Brothers fled to different parts of South America and North America ohagin after migrating to Argentina became a part of a multinational coalition to liberate South America slowly beginning from the south joined by Jose de San Martin they were able to achieve this objective giving way for o Higgins to be become director of Chile the population still stood divided between the Rivalry of ohagin and the Carreras one that would end in the execution of the Carrera Brothers Bernardo o Higgins was not supported for the most part by the Chilean oligarchy but they tolerated him because he had the full backing of the military by this time there were still pockets of Spanish Loyalists and guerillas poor harvests and the attempt to concede a larger political role to the oligarchs forced him to abdicate in 1823 political chaos ensued wherein the authoritarians came out on top and their rule of law would become the basis of political life until 1925 conservatism became the primary ideology during this time Chile started to build up its economy the establishment of the port of Al parizo for example enabled a new trade route between the British Empire and Chile the vast stockpile of Chilean grain proved to be a luxury for many other Empires copper and silver found mostly in the mountains were in demand in Europe too liberalism eventually came into play in 1861 wherein the creation of a liberal Republic was put into fruition it consequently gave rise to different political factions and would allow European influence to enter the country again politics ideologies science literary works and European culture slowly crept their way through Chilean Society by the turn of the century Chile was a rising country in South America with a booming economy and a growing population of middle and lower classes with the rise of the middle and lower classes came the decline of the ruling class the formation of numerous political parties and the spreading of Marxism amongst the working class the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a significant amount of damage to Chile's economy and in fact the entire world Chile reduced its Imports income was diminished and expenses skyrocketed traditional politicians made their entry yet again until the Socialist Republic took power the reelection of Arturo Alexandri Palma allowed a return to constitutional normaly returning State finances which were damaged by internal crises caused by the depression and other sources the normaly and the return to a constitutional government however failed to solve any of Chile's problems this gave rise to the radical presidents who would enact massive changes in the constitution of Chile which would forever alter its future the three radical presidents aguir Sera Rios and Gabrielle Gonzalez VA were supported by far-left factions and the working class V who was initially allied with the Communists eventually turned rightwing they aimed to alleviate the ills of the masses but they failed Salvador alende was elected president in 1970 during his presidency the government enacted an experiment wherein the vision was to slowly transform Chile into a socialist republic by ending foreign capital and influence supporting the working class agrarian reform and income adjustments despite all of these attempts there was still some discontent by 1973 the military staged a coupet where alende was killed he was replaced by austo Pinos this period was marked by Enterprise but also unemployment and a declining standard of living an 8-year extension of Pino's presidency provided the backdrop of civil unrest amongst Chileans protests began to spring up everywhere starting in 1983 constitutional amendments were made to ensure Pinos would not stay in power forever during the 1989 elections Patricio alwin azukar won the national elections the first one since 1973 21st century Chile is a developing Nation one that still Bears The Mark of its Spanish and Native ancestry a homogeneous Nation filled with numerous and different indigenous peoples and mesos alike its government can be defined as primarily socialist due to the number of socialist presidents elected and now it's one of the leading tourism hubs in the entirety of South America due to its exotic landscape and undeniably interesting history Chile is one of South America's leading economies with a GDP of $334 billion in 2024 it's one of the fastest growing in the continent the lack of corruption certainly helps too Chile owes its growth gr to its agriculture it is one of the top five producers of cherries and cranberries in the entire world and one of the 10 largest producers of grapes apples and kiwi Chile is also known for its aquaculture particularly that of salmon fishing it is considered the second largest producer of salmon in the entire world the existence of healthy forests has also given rise to a booming forestry industry in the country owing to its natural proximity to the andian mountains mining is also one of the top sectors in Chile's economy due in part to its wonderful natural landscape and exotic culture and history Chile also has a flourishing tourism industry that continues to grow every year the flag of Chile consists of a horizontal white stripe over a red stripe a blue stripe left of the white stripe and a white star inside the blue stripe the star is considered as a guide towards progress and honor the blue symbolizes the sky the white stands for the snow of the andian ranges and the red is a reminder of the blood spilled by those who have sacrific themselves for the country Chile is a long and narrow country 2,700 M long and 110 M wide total land size is equal to 29 92,000 square miles the most widely known feature the country probably has would be it being sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountain range regardless Chile's biomes are varied Chile's regions can be divided into five zones Norte Grande Norte Chico Zona Central Zona Sur and Zona ustal each having differing characteristics and extreme areas the more to the South you go the colder it gets rainfall varies around these zones but the northern zones tend to have little to no precipitation at all however despite the mountains and the cold bleakness of the Southern regions Chile is also home to the atakama desert the driest non-polar desert in the world temperatures range from 40° fah at its coldest to 104° fah at its hottest the indigenous population of Chile is made up of a mix of European and native peoples called mesos however other groups also make up the population of the country its variety leads to its richness in culture where European Traditions intermingle with Native values many of the European settlers are of Spanish English Italian and French origin which further leads to the diversity of culture as these settlers brought their own ways from the old world to the new a huge portion of chileos are Catholic by practice however different Christian sects still exist in fact Christians make up a bulk of the population of Chile due to their colonization by the Spanish Empire the most common age range for the general population in the country is 30 to 44 years old which makes up approximately 22% of the entirety of the country there are a lot of types of Chilean food but we will go over a few of them some exotic all of them tasty arol deaso a sausage dish made up of Cheaper cuts of meat carbonada a vegetable and beef soup similar to a ministr enela ala chilena a salad that contains tomato onion coriander and olive oil humitas a dish that is superficially similar to tamales also made with corn as with any country Chile is also home to celebrities and famous personalities they include but are not limited to Pedro Pascal the famous actor known for his roles in Game of Thrones and the Mandalorian Jose Miguel Carrera renowned revolutionary leader Bernardo o Higgins considered as one of Chile's founding father fathers austo Pinos famous politician who served as military dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990 Salvador alende another politician who enacted various reforms before he was killed by aeta and the folk band qua payon if you enjoyed this video on Chile you'll love this next one