Culture Shock! Chile - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

Overview of Land and History 17

regions moving east to west. The
major features are the Andes
Mountains, the Central Valley
and the smaller coastal range of
the Cordillera de la Costa. These
regions run almost perfectly
parallel throughout the length
of the country.
From north to south, Chile
can also be divided into three main sections plus Antarctica
and the Pacific islands. Those familiar with North American
geography could compare Chile with the west coast of the
continent turned upside-down. Instead of forests and glaciers
in the north, followed by a temperate region, and then the
deserts of southern California and Mexico in the south, Chile
is characterised by deserts in the north, fertile valleys in the
centre and forests, glaciers and fjords in the south.
The Atacama Desert in the north is one of the driest
places in the world. In certain areas rainfall has never

There is a spot near Bucalemu,

south of the port of San Antonio,

where you can stand atop the

Coastal Range and see across

the entire country. Looking to

the west you see the shoreline

of the Pacific Ocean and to the

east you see the highest peaks

of the Andes range. This gives

you a good sense of Chile’s

unique geography.

Chile is a long, thin country that boasts nearly 4,300 km of coastline.