Chile is one of South America”s most stable and prosperous nations. It has been relatively free of the coups and arbitrary governments that have blighted the continent.The exception was the 17-year rule of General Augusto Pinochet, whose 1973 coup was one of the bloodiest in 20th-century Latin America and whose dictatorship left more than 3,000 people dead and missing. Chile is relatively free of crime and official corruption.

The authoritarian Pinochet-era constitution has been revised and the judicial system overhauled.The country had Latin America”s fastest-growing economy in the 1990s and has weathered recent regional economic instability. But it faces the challenges of having to diversify its copper-dependent economy – it is the largest world producer – and of addressing uneven wealth distribution. Chile”s unusual, ribbon-like shape – 4,300 km long and on average 175 km wide – has given it a hugely varied climate. This ranges from the world”s driest desert – the Atacama – in the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the centre, to a snow-prone Alpine climate in the south, with glaciers, fjords and lakes. Most Chileans are of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent. They also tend to use a double surname and only the first part should be used in addressing them.