Chile

Politics:

• Analysis

  Chile politics: Coalición's presidential hopefuls begin campaigning

  Chile's former public-works minister, Laurence Golborne (an independent who is supported by the Union Democrata Independiente, UDI), and former defence minister, Andres Allamand (who has the backing of his Renovacion Nacional, RN party) resigned on November 5th to compete for the presidential nomination of the ruling centre-right Coalicion coalition. They are already criss-crossing the country to listen to local demands, advertise the government's achievements and prepare their programmes. By effectively bringing forward the campaign for the November 2013 presidential election, they have put pressure on the opposition Concertacion and its likely candidate, Michelle Bachelet, to respond or risk losing ground.

  This is a very early start for the 2013 presidential campaign considering that the new primaries law that was enacted on November 29th by the president, Sebastian Piñera, sets May 1st as the date when candidates must register for primary elections for president, senators and deputies, and June 30th as the date when these nationwide primaries are to be held. Also, since the presidential and congressional elections are scheduled for November 17th, the Coalicion contender who eventually wins the presidential nomination will have spent a full year campaigning.

  Early campaigning catches the Concertacion off guard

  These early moves by the Coalicion are beginning to unnerve the centre-left Concertacion, which was not expecting such an precipitous start to the race. One of its elder statesmen, a former minister and senator, Sergio Bitar, issued a strong warning on December 6th criticising the coalition's excessive confidence in the candidacy and re-election of Ms Bachelet, a former president (2006-10). "There is no worse enemy in politics than confidence", said Mr Bitar.

  The optimism that the Concertacion shows regarding its to return to power in 2014-despite disarray among its members, sharp differences on goals and its poor image with the public-stems from Ms Bachelet's massive personal popularity and the favourable results at the nationwide municipal elections of October 28th. Having secured 41.7% of the vote for mayors-up from 40.2% in 2008-the Concertacion, with the help of the Partido Comunista (PC), raised its number of mayors from 147 out of 345 to 167. The Coalicion's share of the vote shrank to 37.5% from 40.7% in 2008, despite a pact with the Partido Regionalista Independiente (PRI), reducing its number of mayors from 144 to 123.

  However, the Concertacion may be mistaken in its interpretation of October's municipal election results. This was the first national election run on the basis of automatic registration (which increased the number of eligible voters by over 5m to 13.4m) and a voluntary vote (before it was compulsory, at least in theory), which yielded an unprecedented 60% abstention rate that nobody foresaw. Even though these were local elections (with turnout tending to be lower than that for presidential and congressional elections), the high rate of abstention has shocked the Chilean political establishment. More broadly, the underlying trends from the local elections are still being assessed. Meanwhile, the evidently high levels of political apathy have also affected polling agencies recently. Adimark, a local polling agency, has suspended its monthly political poll, citing the high rate of non-responses.

  One conclusion from the high abstention rate is that support for a candidate as expressed in opinion polls (when the electorate is actively asked for their opinion) no longer guarantees actual votes. Candidates must now persuade their supporters to take the trouble to go to the polls, not just convince them that they are their best option. Also, wherever there are challengers the parties will have to hold primaries, ending arbitrary candidate nominations by the top leaders. This is meant to be strengthened by a law under preparation that will offer political parties state funding in exchange for transparency and internal democracy.

  The pressure is now on Ms Bachelet

  Irrespective of these trends, now that the Coalicion's presidential hopefuls have begun campaigning, Ms Bachelet will be under greater pressure to return to active politics once her contract at the UN (where she serves as under-secretary-general) expires at the end of the year, rather than several months into 2013 as seems to be the plan at the moment. Otherwise, she risks being overshadowed by her rivals' active campaigning. At the same time, an early return by Ms Bachelet would expose her to the Concertacion's internal differences for a longer period of time, potentially affecting her campaign and chances of victory. The latest developments suggest that the race may be tighter than previously thought, although the Economist Intelligence Unit continues to believe that Ms Bachelet is in a relatively strong position to win, given her enduring personal popularity. Indeed, with both coalitions suffering from low popularity ratings, the personal appeal of the presidential candidates will have an important bearing on the outcome of the November 2013 election.

  December 07, 2012

• Background

  Chile: Key figures

  Sebastián Piñera

  Having been defeated by Michelle Bachelet in a presidential run-off election in January 2006, Mr Piñera re-emerged to win the presidency in 2010 in a second-round run-off against Eduardo Frei, of the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Concertación). Mr Piñera has banked on his reputation as a hard-working, self-made and hugely successful entrepreneur, bringing a business-like style to the executive. Nevertheless, he has failed to achieve his predecessor's popularity, and has had to endure numerous energy and education protests. Mr Piñera will continue to face a bitter and often obstructionist opposition from the Concertación, and keeping his Coalición por el Cambio (Coalición) centre-right coalition aligned behind his government will also be difficult at times as his own Renovación Nacional (RN) party is resorting increasingly to populist posturing, as is the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI). Relations between the two major coalition partners are not without conflicts but, ultimately, they will be governed by the desire to win another term in power.

  Michelle Bachelet

  A member of the Partido Socialista (PS) and a former minister of health (2000-01) and defence (2004-05), Ms Bachelet was Chile's first female president (2006-10) and left office with exceptionally high approval rates. Currently head of UN Women in New York, with a contract ending in December 2012, she continues to be liked by Chileans. According to a CEP poll carried out in April, a remarkable 83% have a positive image of her and only 6% have a negative image. She is by far the favourite at this stage of the race for the next presidency. However, Ms Bachelet will be handicapped by her unpopular and deeply divided Concertación coalition. After being begged by the Concertación in the past 12 months to be their candidate and take them back to power in 2014, she has begun to send signals that she will, but is yet to say so clearly. She will probably condition her candidacy on programmatic and behavioural commitments by all parties in her coalition enabling governability.

  Laurence Golborne

  A centre-right independent with no political experience before his appointment as minister of mining in 2009, Mr Golborne's political career was boosted after overseeing the rescue of 33 trapped miners in October 2010, which turned him into the country's most popular politician and a potential presidential successor to Mr Piñera. He later became the energy minister and was then moved to the Ministry of Public Works in July 2011 to give him more visibility. He is intellectually bright and a talented administrator, which helped him establish a successful career in business, becoming chief executive officer (CEO) of one of the leading retail chains in Latin America. Like Ms Bachelet, he has the common touch. He has a 74% approval rate as a minister and a 22% disapproval rate according to a recent Adimark poll, while 68% say he has a good image and 11% a bad image, according to a CEP poll. He has made it plain that he intends to compete for the presidential nomination at the Coalición's primary election (which will probably be held in May 2013).

  Andrés Allamand

  Appointed minister of defence in July 2011 by Mr Piñera to position him as a possible presidential candidate, he had served previously as a senator since the return to democracy in 1990 and headed his RN party for a long while. He gained widespread respect on both sides of the political divide thanks to his bridging role and his ability to maintain a respectful, cross-party dialogue. He will be RN's presidential candidate at the Coalición's primary. His performance as a minister is well-rated but he is not as popular as Mr Golborne.

  Pablo Longueira

  Appointed minister of the economy in July 2011, he is trying hard to be nominated by the UDI as its presidential candidate for the Coalición's primary. As one of the UDI's original founders, he is highly popular within his party, but both his performance as a minister and his popularity with voters is weaker than that of Mr Golborne or Mr Allamand. As a result the UDI is divided between the loyalists that support Mr Longueira and the pragmatists who support Mr Golborne's candidacy.

  August 23, 2012

• Structure

  Chile: Political structure

  Official name

  Republic of Chile

  Form of government

  Presidential system, based on 1980 constitution

  The executive

  The president, elected for a period of four years, is head of state and appoints the cabinet

  National legislature

  Bicameral legislature (Congress): a Senate (the upper house) comprising 38 members elected for eight years and partly renewed every four years; and a Chamber of Deputies (the lower house), with 120 members who are all elected every four years

  Legal system

  The 21 Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president from lists submitted by the Supreme Court, and confirmed by a two-thirds majority in the upper house; 16 regional courts of appeal and members of the lower courts are appointed by the Supreme Court

  National elections

  October 2012 (municipal); November 2013 (presidential and congressional)

  National government

  Sebastián Piñera of the Renovación Nacional (RN) heads the Coalición por el Cambio coalition; he took office as president on March 11th 2010

  Main political organisations

  Government: Coalición por el Cambio, comprising the Renovación Nacional (RN) and the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI); Chile Primero (CH1). Opposition: Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Concertación) coalition, comprising the Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC), the Partido Radical Social Demócrata (PRSD), the Partido Socialista (PS) and the Partido por la Democracia (PPD); Partido Comunista (PC); Partido Regionalista Independiente (PRI)

  Key ministers

  President: Sebastián Piñera (RN)

  Agriculture: Luis Mayol (independent)

  Culture: Luciano Cruz-Coke (independent)

  Defence: Andrés Allamand (RN)

  Economy: Pablo Longueira (UDI)

  Education: Harald Beyer (independent)

  Energy: Jorge Bunster (independent)

  Environment: María Ignacia Benítez (UDI)

  Finance: Felipe Larraín (independent)

  Foreign affairs: Alfredo Moreno (independent)

  General secretary of the government: Andrés Chadwick (UDI)

  General secretary of the presidency: Christián Larroulet (independent)

  Health: Jaime Mañalich (independent)

  Housing & urbanism: Rodrigo Pérez (independent)

  Interior & cabinet chief: Rodrigo Hinzpeter (RN)

  Justice: Teodoro Ribera (RN)

  Labour: Evelyn Matthei (UDI)

  Mining: Hernán de Solminihac (independent)

  National property: Catalina Parot (RN)

  National service for women: Carolina Schmidt (independent)

  Planning & co-operation: Joaquín Lavín (UDI)

  Public works: Laurence Golborne (independent)

  Transport & telecommunications: Pedro Pablo Errázuriz (independent)

  Central Bank president

  Rodrigo Vergara

  November 06, 2012

• Outlook

  Chile: Key developments

  Outlook for 2013-17

  • The opposition in the legislature will slow the efforts of the president, Sebastián Piñera, to boost competitiveness, but his popularity will rise from its lows earlier in 2012, owing to reconstruction and social transfers.
  • Assuming that she runs, the former president, Michelle Bachelet, is well placed to win the November 2013 presidential election.
  • GDP will grow at an annual average of 4.8% in 2013-17, close to Chile's long-term trend rate, driven by private consumption and investment.
  • Chile will maintain sound public finances, and the Economist Intelligence Unit expects the government to achieve fiscal surpluses throughout the outlook period, notwithstanding higher public spending in the short term.
  • Strong institutions will support the business environment, but energy bottlenecks will pose a significant risk to the private sector in the short and medium term.
  • Barring supply-side shocks, the Banco Central de Chile (BCC, the Central Bank) will keep inflation within its target range of 2-4%. In real terms, the peso will remain stronger than its historical average level in 2013-17.
  • Reconstruction will push up import spending, but this will be mitigated by high copper prices (relative to their historical average). The current-account deficit will average 3.4% of GDP in the outlook period.

  Review

  • Politics has been dominated by campaigning for the October 28th municipal elections. Securing the centre ground will be crucial for both coalitions ahead of the presidential and congressional polls in November 2013.
  • At its latest monthly monetary policy meeting, on October 18th, the Board of the Banco Central de Chile (the Central Bank of Chile) decided to keep the monetary policy interest rate at 5%.
  • Economic growth as measured by the Central Bank's Imacec index of monthly economic activity reached 6.2% year on year in August and stood at 5.5% in the first eight months of the year.
  • The rise of 0.8% in the consumer price index in the month of September was larger than expected, and took cumulative inflation in the year to date to 1.4% and the 12-month rate to 2.8%.
  • According to the monthly construction index (Imacon), activity grew by 12% year on year in August, the fastest growth rate since September 1993.

  November 06, 2012

Economy:

• Background

  Chile: Country fact sheet

  Fact sheet

  Annual data	2011a	Historical averages (%)	2007-11
  Population (m)	17.2	Population growth	1.0
  GDP (US$ bn; market exchange rate)	248.6	Real GDP growth	3.9
  GDP (US$ bn; purchasing power parity)	299.3b	Real domestic demand growth	6.6
  GDP per head (US$; market exchange rate)	14,412	Inflation	3.8
  GDP per head (US$; purchasing power parity)	17,355b	Current-account balance (% of GDP)	0.9
  Exchange rate (av) Ps:US$	483.7	FDI inflows (% of GDP)	7.4
  a Actual. b Economist Intelligence Unit estimates.

  Download the numbers in Excel

  Background: In a 1988 referendum, mandated under the 1980 constitution, the then military ruler, Augusto Pinochet, failed to obtain the majority that would have enabled him to remain in office for a further eight years. Democratic presidential and congressional elections were held in December 1989, when the candidate of the centre-left coalition, Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Concertación), Patricio Aylwin, was elected president for four years. Concertación candidates won four subsequent presidential elections, but intra-coalition splits and a gradual realignment of political forces after 20 years of Concertación rule, helped to produce a victory for Sebastián Piñera, of the centre-right Coalición por el Cambio (Coalición), in the second round of the presidential election held in January 2010.

  Political structure: The political system is presidential, with a bicameral legislature that comprises a 38-seat Senate (the upper house) and a 120-seat Chamber of Deputies (the lower house). The constitutional presidential term is four years and successive re-election is not allowed. The judiciary is nominally independent, but in practice the executive exerts influence through the nomination of temporary judges and the control of promotions to the Supreme Court. Monetary policy is in the hands of an autonomous central bank. Chile has 15 regions, 54 provinces and 346 municipalities.

  Policy issues: There is strong consensus on the desire to deepen global economic integration, while maintaining a liberal market economy and prudent fiscal and monetary policies. Policy differences between the two major coalitions tend to be a matter of degree, rather than substance. The most heated differences centre on the labour regime and the electoral system. Reform is under way to improve the transparency and efficiency of the civil service. The public healthcare and education systems have received substantial additional resources since 1990, with good improvements in healthcare but only modest improvements in education, which remains a weakness.

  Taxation: Corporate income tax is paid in two stages. Declared profit is subject to an 18.5% first-category income tax (FCIT). When profit is distributed to shareholders or partners, companies pay 35%, minus the FCIT credit. Tax on dividends and interest payments to non-banks is levied at 35%. Royalties and fees transferred abroad are subject to a withholding tax of 20%. The value-added tax (VAT) rate is 19%.

  Foreign trade: Chile's general import tariff rate is 6%, but its trade-weighted effective average tariff rate is below 2%, owing to tariff preferences granted through trade accords, most importantly free-trade agreements (FTAs) with the EU, the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, China and Japan. In 2011 exports reached US$81.6bn and imports US$70.9bn.

  Major exports 2011	% of total	Major imports 2011	% of total
  Copper	53.6	Intermediate goods	52.6
  Fresh fruit	5.1	Consumer goods	21.4
  Cellulose	4.5	Capital goods	15.9
  Salmon & trout	3.5
  Leading markets 2011	% of total	Leading suppliers 2011	% of total
  China	22.0	US	18.6
  US	10.8	China	15.9
  Japan	11.1	Argentina	7.9
  Brazil	5.4	Brazil	5.9

  Download the numbers in Excel

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  November 14, 2012

• Structure

  Chile: Economic structure

  Data and charts: Annual trends charts

  
  

  

  November 06, 2012

• Outlook

  Chile: Country outlook

  Chile: Country outlook

  FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

  POLITICAL STABILITY: The popularity of the president, Sebastián Piñera, is likely to continue to pick up from the record lows it sank to in April, boosted by housing reconstruction and transfers for the poor, but he will still face simmering social tensions and political opposition in Congress ahead of the November 2013 presidential and congressional elections. Student protests last year over the education system have led to government plans to cut the cost of student loans (with interest rates falling from 6% to 2%) and for better regulation of poorly performing educational establishments, as well as higher spending on education, using revenue from a recent tax reform. This meets some of the protesters' demands, but neither of Chile's political coalitions--the ruling centre-right Coalición por el Cambio (Coalición) and the opposition centre-left Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Concertación)--agrees with all the measures that students have been seeking. More broadly, there is a sense that the executive and legislature are struggling to address the rising expectations of the expanding middle class, fuelling the dissatisfaction with traditional political parties and sustaining the risk of sporadic protests. There are no firm signs of changes to the centralised political system, which favours a two-coalition framework. Despite some efforts to put in place electoral and political reforms at regional and local level, the Economist Intelligence Unit does not expect major changes to the political system during Mr Piñera's term (which ends in early 2014).

  ELECTION WATCH: At the nationwide municipal elections of October 28th the centre-left opposition formed by the Concertación coalition and the Partido Comunista achieved significant gains at the expense of the Coalición. The results put the Concertación in a strong position ahead of the presidential and congressional elections of November 2013. Michelle Bachelet (who was president in 2006-10) remains the most popular political figure in Chile, and is being courted by Concertación leaders to run for another term. Although she has yet to make her position public, we believe that she will announce her intention to run after her contract as the head of UN Women expires at the end of 2012. Her recent intervention in favour of greater political co-operation should lift Concertación's approval rating and boost its chances of returning to government. Within the Coalición, differences between the more conservative Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) and Mr Piñera's centre-right Renovación Nacional (RN) could lead the two parties to support different candidates in the first round, as in the 2005 election. In early November Laurence Golborne (an independent, backed by the UDI) and Andrés Allamand (RN) stepped down from the cabinet to begin campaigning ahead of the Coalición's presidential primary election, to be held on June 30th 2013. Mr Golborne is the most popular politician on the right. A reform to make electoral registration automatic is likely to increase the number of those voting, particularly among the young, creating some uncertainty about the outcome.

  INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Mr Piñera will seek to maintain solid trade relations and avoid diplomatic disputes with other Latin American countries, especially those with which underlying tensions persist, such as Argentina (because of natural-gas supply issues) and Bolivia (owing to a long-standing territorial dispute). Trade and investment links with Peru will remain strong, despite an unresolved dispute over a maritime border--a final verdict on this from the International Court of Justice in The Hague is expected by the end of 2012. Beyond the region, Mr Piñera is expected to continue to broaden and deepen links to support export-led economic development, in particular by fostering closer integration among Pacific economies. This was evident in June, when Mr Piñera signed a "strategic association" agreement with China to support increased trade and investment. Chile is also expected to expand its large network of free-trade agreements (FTAs), with new agreements with Malaysia, Vietnam and India.

  POLICY TRENDS: Demands brought to the fore by widespread protests over education reform last year, and also in favour of more state support to remote regions, are leading the government to increase cash transfer and infrastructure programmes to address structural poverty and major social and regional inequalities. In addition, an annual US$1bn in revenue to be raised from a recently approved tax bill will be spent on education. Such challenges, however, will distract the administration from its efforts to boost productivity and competitiveness. The outlook for labour-market reforms is poor. Moves to make the labour market more flexible have been blocked by the opposition in Congress, and negotiations between the private sector and the unions were scuppered by radical union groups. Fiscal policy will remain prudent in 2013-17 and Chile will continue to stand out as the economy in Latin America with the soundest macroeconomic fundamentals, reflecting decades of good economic management. The Banco Central de Chile (the Central Bank) will continue to preserve the country's hard-earned reputation for price stability, while seeking to curb peso volatility and shielding the economy from external shocks.

  ECONOMIC GROWTH: Chile's robust domestic fundamentals and political and institutional stability will be supportive of growth in 2013-17. Although the economy is expected to cool from estimated GDP growth of 5.4% in 2012 (revised up from 5.2% last month, following stronger than expected third-quarter GDP results), continuing strong consumption and investment will result in GDP growth of 4.7% in 2013. Backed by expanding copper production, growth will gather pace thereafter, reaching an average of 4.7% annually in 2014-17.

  INFLATION: Despite firm domestic demand growth, the monetary authorities should be able to keep inflation within the 2-4% official target range. Sound policies will limit inflationary pressures--the monetary policy rate is currently close to its neutral rate, at 5%. Moreover, even with low unemployment, we expect inflationary pressure from the labour market to remain limited, helping to keep real wage growth in line with economic performance. Domestic risks could emerge from the national grid's vulnerability to weather shocks (predominantly droughts), which could result in energy price rises, while volatility in global fuel and food prices could again put upward pressure on prices, as in 2007-08.

  EXCHANGE RATES: The peso has strengthened since May-June, to stand at Ps480:US$1 on November 20th, owing to strong FDI inflows and sustained economic growth (these factors being more important than the liquidity unleashed by the US Federal Reserve's third round of quantitative easing). We expect the peso to remain close to this value. However, an external shock, such as a break-up of the euro zone, would cause the peso, and the currencies of other emerging markets, to weaken considerably. In the longer term, our forecasts envisage only a slightly weaker peso in nominal terms, with the exchange rate at Ps504.6:US$1 at end-2017. However, with the prospect of weak growth in the US and Europe, this modest nominal weakening will not be sufficient to offset the peso's gradual strengthening in real terms: by 2017, we expect the currency to have appreciated by as much as 15% compared with the average for the last ten years.

  EXTERNAL SECTOR: After widening to an estimated 3.7% of GDP in 2012, Chile's current-account deficit will narrow slightly during the forecast period (to 2.9% of GDP by 2017) as higher copper exports come on stream. Chile will maintain a moderate trade surplus in 2013-17, partly because it benefits from its extensive FTA network, as well as from strong links to other high-growth markets, such as China. The latter is the main source of demand for Chile's copper exports, which are set to remain high by historical standards, owing to above-average prices and expanding output. More than half of Chile's exports go to Asia and Latin America, thereby providing sources of growing external demand. Infrastructure and mining projects will continue to fuel growth in imports (particularly of intermediate and capital goods) in the medium term, and rising household consumption, boosted by booming domestic demand, will drive imports (mainly of consumer goods). Chile will continue to run a large structural deficit on the income account, reflecting the large-scale repatriation of profits by multinationals. These will remain the key contributors to Chile's current-account deficit, but will increasingly be offset by an expanding base of outward investments, as well as by the return on foreign reserves invested in the two sovereign wealth funds. The services and transfers balances will remain the smallest components of the current account, reaching a deficit of 1.3% of GDP and a surplus of 1% of GDP respectively by 2017.

  December 01, 2012

• Forecast

  Chile: Country forecast summary

  Country forecast overview: Highlights

  • Throughout the rest of his four-year term, which ends in March 2014, the president, Sebastián Piñera of the centre-right Coalición por el Cambio (Coalición), will seek to push through a reform agenda based on addressing structural bottlenecks to growth, combined with strong social policies. Nevertheless, low public approval ratings will constrain his ability to achieve consensus with the opposition and also within his own coalition.
  • With very low popularity and lacking a leader, the centre-left Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Concertación) will be forced to resort to greater consensus-building or put at risk its electoral prospects for 2013. Nevertheless, if, as the Economist Intelligence Unit expects, the Concertación's still-popular Michelle Bachelet (who was president in 2006-10) decides to contest the presidential election, she will be hard to beat. Piecemeal political and economic reforms will be enacted, and the two-coalition structure will endure.
  • There have been some advances with reforms to raise productivity levels and competitiveness, but these will slow as the 2013 elections approach. However, energy and labour-market reforms will remain a challenge, and lingering protests will force a deeper rethink of education policy and decentralisation.
  • Post-earthquake reconstruction is set to end in 2012, but-despite the extra spending-Chile will record cash surpluses in 2013-17, owing to high copper prices (relative to historical averages). The structural balance, which factors in long-term copper prices and GDP growth, will remain in deficit (albeit a declining one) throughout Mr Piñera's term before improving thereafter.
  • Chile will record fiscal surpluses during the outlook period, bolstering creditworthiness. There is also an ample stock of international reserves and resources in sovereign wealth funds. Chile's public debt/GDP ratio will remain very low by regional and global standards.
  • GDP will grow by an average of 4.8% in 2013-17, close to its trend rate of growth. High copper prices, export diversification and demand from Asia will underpin export growth in the medium term, and the government will seek further free-trade agreements with prospective developing markets.
  • Import spending will rise in 2012, owing to reconstruction and strong private consumption, although this will be partly offset by high copper revenue by historical standards. The current-account deficit will widen to 3.7% of GDP in 2012-13, narrowing afterwards as new copper exports materialise. The deficit will be financed by strong inflows of foreign direct investment.

  

  November 14, 2012

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Country Briefing

Land area

756,946 sq km

Population

16.8m (2008 official estimate)

Main regions

Population in '000 (2002 census)

Santiago metropolitan area: 6,039

Biobío: 1,854

Valparaíso: 1,542

Los Lagos: 1,062

Maule: 904

La Araucanía: 865

O'Higgins: 774

Climate

Temperate; dry in the north, wet in the south

Weather in Santiago (altitude 520 metres)

Hottest month, January, 12-29°C; coldest month, June, 3-14°C (average daily minimum and maximum); driest month, February, 2 mm average rainfall; wettest month, June, 84 mm average rainfall

Language

Spanish

Measures

Metric system

Currency

1 peso (Ps) = 100 centísimos. Average exchange rates in 2011: Ps483.8:US$1; Ps672.4:€1

Time

4 hours behind GMT

Public holidays

January 1st; Good Friday; Easter Saturday; May 1st (Labour Day); May 21st (Battle of Iquique); June 2nd (Corpus Christi); August 15th (The Assumption); September 18th (Independence Day); October 15th (Día del Descubrimiento de Dos Mundos); November 1st (All Saints' Day); December 8th (Immaculate Conception); December 25th (Christmas Day)

March 01, 2012