Overview of Land and History 19A little more than one-tenth is forested. Much of the rest
of the country is covered by desert and highlands. Great
portions of the country are not populated. National parks
account for roughly 18 per cent of Chilean territory, a fairly
high percentage. CONAF, the National Park Service, runs
32 national parks, 36 national reserves and 15 natural
monuments.
History
The geography of this corner of South America plays an
important role in the formation of Chile as a nation. Chile
was founded as a Spanish colony on the western side of
the formidable barrier of the Andes Mountains along the
coast of the Pacific Ocean. It was easier to expand to the
south (into the territories of the indigenous groups) and
to the north (into the neglected parts of Peru and Bolivia)
than it was to cross these mountains and venture farther
inland. Although the Spanish crown originally assigned
certain territories beyond the Andes to Chile (in what today
is southern Argentina), the country eventually found its
‘natural’ niche between the mountains and the sea.