What are 15 Interesting Facts About Chile?

Chile is a country of extremes. Its 4,329 kilometers in length, which makes it the longest country in the world, is home to a great variety of cultures, climates, natural phenomena and stories that seem incredible. These are the most interesting facts about Chile.

Located in the coastal city of Algarrobo, which is equivalent to the length of 20 Olympic swimming pools and has 66 million liters of water, making it a Guinness World Record.

With 4,270 km, Chiles is the second longest country in the world, surpassed by Brazil, which has only 95 more kilometers.

Chile has the southernmost town in the world, Puerto William, although some argue that Ushuaia in Argentine territory should be the southernmost town since Puerto William is an island and not part of the continent.

The oldest mummy in the world was found in Chile. Known as the Chinchorro mummy, it is a mummified remains of a person from an ancient Chinchorro tribe of the Atacama Desert, dating between 5050 and 3000 BC, which means that the people of Atacama were mummified up to 2,000 years before the Egyptians!

Chile is home to the tallest tower in South America, the Costanera Center. Located in the city of Santiago, the building has 64 floors and 2 viewpoints on the top floors for observing the city and the Andes Mountains, which will leave you with your mouth open!

The Atacama Desert, located in the north of the country, is considered the driest desert in the world, with an annual average rainfall of only 0.6 inches per year.

Scientists have used the harsh conditions of the Atacama Desert to test Mars Rovers, as desert terrain and with volatile conditions the Atacama Desert is believed to simulate Tuesday’s surface.

It is believed that 90% of the origin of potatoes worldwide are from the Island of Chiloé, located off the coast of the Lake District, even today they are home to 286 unique varieties of the Chiloé potato.

Chile has one of the only governments in the world that has an official department dedicated to the investigation of UFOs (yes, as in the foreign world). Talk about close encounters in Chilean territory!

Stories of events in Chile have served as a model of inspiration in some of the great books and creation of characters in classical literature. In “Tempestad”, it is believed that Shakespeare based the character of Celibacy on stories of the natives who lived in Tierra del Fuego. The Essex whaling ship inspired Melville to write his movie “Moby Dick”, a ship that was sunk by a whale off the Chilean coast, and the survivors were transferred to the city of Valparaíso. Finally “Robinson Crusoe” was based on the story of Alexander Selkirk, a French sailor who spent 4 years as a shipwreck in the Juan Fernández Archipelago.

The largest earthquake in the world is remembered in the city of Valdivia in 1960, which registered 9.5 and in which around 1,000 inhabitants died.

Although they look very similar, the Chilean flag is 21 years older than the Texas flag of the United States, which use similar colors. In the Chilean flag, the colors and the star symbolize: blue – the sky and the Pacific Ocean; white – the snow of the Andes Mountains; the star – direction and progress; and the red – the blood shed in the struggle for independence.

The Larch tree of southern Chile can live up to 4,000 years.

Chile is the fourth largest wine exporter worldwide.

The first President of Chile was Argentine: It was in 1827 that Manuel Blanco Encalada was recognized as the first President of the Republic of Chile. The military man and politician was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.