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Julio Fernandez

Julio Fernandez

Julio M. Fernandez (born 1954 in Santiago, Chile) is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, New York. thumb Julio Fernandez studies single-molecule protein biophysics. His lab has used and developed the atomic force microscopes (AFM) for force spectroscopy to study the structure and folding of proteins. Fernandez, Julio

1954

1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-February

- January 1 - Soviet Union no longer demands war reparations from East Germany
- January 12 - Large-scale avalanches in Austria - over 20 dead
- January 14 - The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation
- January 14 - Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio.
- January 15 - Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya
- January 17 - In Yugoslavia, Milovan Djilas, Tito's second-in-command, is relieved of his duties
- January 20 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations
- January 21 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut, by First Lady of the United States Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- January 25 - The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.
- January 26 - Milpitas, California was incorporated as a city.
- January 27 - Very freezing weather in Europe
- February 3 - Queen Elizabeth II is the first reigning monarch to visit Australia
- February 10 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam
- February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- February 25 - Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.

March-April

- March 1 - Nuclear testing: Officials announce that an American hydrogen bomb test had been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
- March 1 - Four Puerto Ricans open fire on United States House of Representatives and wound five. Security guards apprehend them.
- March 8 - PR Newswire founded in New York by Herb Muschel.
- March 9 - Edward Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produce a 30-minute See It Now special entitled "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy".
- March 12 - Finland and Germany officially end the state of war.
- March 13 - French troops begin battle against Vietminh in Dien Bien Phu.
- March 19 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
- March 22 - The London bullion market reopens (it was closed in 1939).
- March 22 - London gold exchange opens for the first time since the war.
- March 23 - Viet Minh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu - French forces are partially isolated.
- March 25 - RCA manufactures first color TV set (12" screen; price: $1,000).
- March 25 - Soviet Union recognizes sovereignty of East Germany but Soviet troops remain in the country.
- March 29 - C-47 with Genevieve de Galard on board is incapacitated on Dien Bien Phu runway.
- March 30 - Canada's first subway opens in Toronto.
- April 1 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
- April 3 - Vladimir Petrov defects from the Soviet Union and asks to seek political asylum in Australia.
- April 7 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
- April 12 - Original recording of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets.
- April 14 - – Aneurin Bevan resigns from the UK Labour shadow cabinet.
- April 22 - Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.

May

- May 1 - Taku (city in Japan) founded
- May 6 - Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile
- May 7 - Construction started on Michigan's Mackinac Bridge.
- May 7 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).
- May 14 - Boeing 707 released after about two years of development.
- May 17 - United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 347 US 483 1954
- May 17 - Petrov Royal Commission in Australia begains it's inqury
- May 20 - Chiang Kai-shek is reelected president of the Republic of China by the National Assembly.
- May 20 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty launches Belarusian language programming (see also Piotra Sych).
- May 29 - Robert Menzies Government re-elected for 4th term in Australia.

June-July

- June 1 - Radio statio Sender Freies Berlin begins broadcasting
- June 9 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army
- June 14 - On United States Flag Day, the words "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance
- June 15 - UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) is formed in Basel, Switzerland
- June 17 - Military coup in Guatemala
- June 18 - Pierre Mendes-France becomes prime minister of France
- June 19 - The last regular-service streetcar operated by Twin City Rapid Transit runs in Minneapolis.
- June 27 - Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán steps down in a CIA-sponsored military coup–Operation PBSUCCESS–triggering a bloody civil war that would continue for more than 35 years.
- June 27 - The world's first atomic power station opened at Obnisnsk, near Moscow.
- July 3 - Food rationing ends in Britain
- July 4 - End of rationing of meat ends all the food rationing in Britain
- July 4 - West Germany beat Hungary 3-2 to win the
- July 5 - Andhra Pradesh High Court is established.
- July 7 - In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record
- July 15 - Maiden flight of Boeing 707
- July 21 - First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam
- July 28 - Foundation of the Situationist International.
- July 31 - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition.

August-October

- August - First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress.
- August 6 - Emilie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets, dies of asphyxiation following a epileptic seizure at Sainte Agathe, Quebec.
- August 16 - Volume 1, Issue 1 of Sports Illustrated is published
- August 24 - President of Brazil, Getulio Vargas, commits suicide; he's been accused of conspiracy to murder an air force officer.
- September 3 - The last new episode of The Lone Ranger is aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years
- September 6 - SEATO treaty signed in Manila, Philippines
- September 8 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established in Bangkok, Thailand
- September 9 - An earthquake centered on the city of Oleansville in Algeria - 1500 dead and thousands homeless
- September 11 - First Miss America Pageant broadcast on television
- September 14 - USSR tests nuclear weapon
- September 30 - USS Nautilus, 1st atomic-powered vessel (submarine), commissioned by the US Navy
- October 11 - Vietnam War: The Viet Minh takes control of North Vietnam.
- October 18 - Texas Instruments announces the worldwide first Transistor radio.
- October 20 - Dock workers' strike expands in England
- October 23 - West Germany joins NATO
- October 26 - – Member of Muslim Brotherhood Abdul Munim Abdul Rauf tries to kill Gamal Abdal Nasser
- October 31 - Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.

November-December

- November - The main immigration port-of-entry in New York Harbor at Ellis Island closes.
- November 2 - Dock workers' strike in England ends
- November 3 - The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan.
- November 10 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery
- November 13 - Don Estes invents the disrupter (a part to help combines work)
- November 14 - Egyptian president Mohammed Naguib is deposed - Gamal Abdel Nasser replaces him
- November 23 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at an all-time high of 382.74. More significantly, this is the first time the Dow has surpassed its 1929 peak level reached just before that year's crash.
- November 30 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, a 4 kg meteorite crashes through the roof of a house and hits Ann Hodges, badly bruising her, in the first documented case of an object from outer space hitting a person.
- December 2 - Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 67 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
- December 24 - Laos becomes independent.

unknown dates

- The first organ transplants are done in Boston and Paris.
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu between French and Viet Minh forces in Indochina
- Boy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of race
- Stop signs are changed from black-on-yellow to white-on-red
- Gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus), brought to the United States by Dr. Victor Schwentker.
- Unification Church founded.
- Case of Lothar Malskat, who had admitted that he had painted the frescoes in Marienkirche himself, goes into trial

Births

January-February

- January 2 - Henry Bonilla, American politician
- January 4 - Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott, English professional poker player
- January 6 - Anthony Minghella, British film director
- January 12 - Howard Stern, American radio host
- January 17 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of Robert F Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy and nephew of U.S president John F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy
- January 22 - Peter Pilz, Austrian politician
- January 23 - Franco De Vita, Venezuelan singer and songwriter
- January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, American actress, talk show host, producer, and publisher
- January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, Japanese cartoonist
- February 1 - Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
- February 2 - Christie Brinkley, American model
- February 6 - Argusto Emfazie, American occultist and author
- February 12 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
- February 13 - Donnie Moore, baseball player (d. 1989)
- February 15 - Matt Groening, American cartoonist
- February 18 - John Travolta, American actor
- February 19 - Socrates, Brazilian footballer
- February 20 - Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
- February 20 - Patty Hearst, American heiress and kidnapping victim
- February 23 - Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
- February 25 - John Doe, American musician
- February 26 - Michael Bolton, American singer

March-June

- March 1 - Ron Howard, American actor, director, producer
- March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, Canadian actress
- March 8 - David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
- March 13 - The Baroness Amos, British politician
- March 15 - Craig Wasson, American actor
- March 16 - Nancy Wilson, American singer, musician, and actress
- March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, British actress
- March 24 - Robert Carradine, American actor
- March 29 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (d. 1985)
- April 7 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born actor
- April 7 - Tony Dorsett, American football player
- April 9 - Dennis Quaid, American actor
- April 10 - Peter MacNicol, American actor
- April 15 - Seka, American actress
- April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
- April 18 - Rick Moranis, Canadian actor and comedian
- April 28 - Robert Sargent Shriver III son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of John F Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy
- April 29 - Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian
- May 1 - Archie Norman, British politician and businessman
- May 7 - Amy Heckerling, American film director
- May 8 - David Keith, American actor
- May 19 - Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
- June 9 - John Hagelin, American physicist and U.S. Presidential candidate
- June 20 - Ilan Ramon, Israeli Air Force, Israel first astronaut (d. 2003)
- June 22 - Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
- June 26 - Steve Barton, American actor (d. 2001)
- June 27 - Ron Kirk, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
- June 30 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)

July-October

- July 5 - John Wright, New Zealand cricket captains
- July 10 - Neil Tennant, British musician
- July 17 - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
- July 25 - Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)
- August 1 - Michael J. Badnarik, software engineer and U.S. Presidential candidate
- August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer
- August 14 - Mark Fidrych, baseball player
- August 16 - James Cameron, Canadian-born film director
- August 20 - Al Roker, American television broadcaster
- August 21 - Ivan Stang, American author and publisher
- August 25 - Elvis Costello, British singer
- August 26 - Pauline Hanson, Australian politician
- September 13 - Steve Kilbey, Australian musician
- September 21 - Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician
- September 23 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
- September 26 - Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager and television host
- September 30 - Barry Williams, American actor
- October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovenian swimmer
- October 3 - Dennis Eckersley, baseball player
- October 3 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (d. 1990)
- October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor
- October 10 - David Lee Roth, American singer
- October 13 - Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician
- October 15 - Peter Bakowski, Australian poet
- October 24 - Mike Rounds, Governor of South Dakota

November-December

- November 2 - Pat Croce, American entrepreneur
- November 3 - Brigitte Lin, Actress
- November 7 - Kamal Haasan, Indian actor
- November 8 - Michael D. Brown, U.S. Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response
- November 14 - Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
- November 14 - Willie Hernández, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- November 15 - Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- November 16 - Bruce Edwards, golf caddy (d. 2004)
- November 27 - Patricia McPherson, American actress
- December 2 - Dan Butler, American actor
- December 7 - Mark Hofmann, American forger and murderer
- December 14 - Ib Andersen, Danish dancer
- December 14 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
- December 20 - Michael Badalucco, American actor
- December 26 - Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racer
- December 28 - Denzel Washington, American actor

Unknown dates

- Nenad Prokic, Serbian playwright

Deaths

- January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (b. 1879)
- February 12 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)
- March 7 - Otto Diels, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- March 31 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, American electrical engineer and inventor (b. 1890)
- May 6 - B.C. Forbes, Scottish-born publisher (b. 1880)
- May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
- April 10 - Auguste Lumière, French inventor (b. 1862)
- April 28 - Léon Jouhaux, French labor leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1879)
- June 7 - Alan Turing, British mathematician (b. 1912)
- July 11 - Henry Valentine Knaggs, English physician and author (b. 1859)
- July 13 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (b. 1907)
- July 14 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
- July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
- August 24 - Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil (b. 1882)
- September 21 - Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese pearl farm pioneer (b. 1858)
- November 3 - Henri Matisse, French painter (b. 1869)
- November 28 - Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- November 29 - Dink Johnson, American musician (b. 1892)
- November 30 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor (b. 1886)
- December 8 - Claude Cahun, French photographer and writer (b. 1894)
- December 30 - Eugen, Archduke of Austria, Austrian field marshal (b. 1863)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Max Born, Walther Bothe
- Chemistry - Linus Carl Pauling
- Medicine - John Franklin Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, Frederick Chapman Robbins
- Literature - Ernest Hemingway
- Peace - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Fields Medalists

- Kunihiko Kodaira, Jean-Pierre Serre Category:1954 ko:1954년 ms:1954 ja:1954年 simple:1954 th:พ.ศ. 2497

Santiago

Santiago is one of the names by which Saint James is known in the Hispanic world. It is used as the name of several places around the world.

Important places named Santiago

- Santiago, Chile, capital of Chile
- Santiago de Compostela, capital of Galicia, Spain
- (Santiago de) Guayaquil, largest city in Ecuador
- (Santiago de) Cali, second largest city in Colombia

Other places named Santiago (by country)

- Argentina
- Santiago del Estero
- Santiago del Estero Province
- Brazil
- Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul
- Cape Verde:
- Santiago, a parish of the municipality of Santa Cruz in the island of Santiago
- Chile
- Santiago Province, Chile
- Region Metropolitana de Santiago, an administrative region of Chile
- Cuba
- Santiago de Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Santiago de los Caballeros
- Santiago Province, Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Santiago Island (Galápagos)
- Mexico
- Santiago de Querétaro (formerly, "Querétaro")
- Santiago, Nuevo León
- Panama
- Santiago de Veraguas
- Peru
- Santiago de Surco is a district of Lima
- Santiago de Chuco, a district of La Libertad, where poet César Vallejo was born.
- Philippines
- Santiago, Agusan del Norte
- Santiago, Ilocos Sur
- Santiago City, Isabela
- Santiago Island (Philippines)
- Portugal
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Alcácer do Sal
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Arganil
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Armamar
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Lisbon
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Seia
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Sesimbra
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Tavira
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Torres Novas
- Santiago da Guarda, a parish in the municipality of Ansião
- Santiago da Ribeira de Alhariz, a parish in the municipality of Valpaços
- Santiago de Besteiros, a parish in the municipality of Tondela
- Santiago de Bougado, a parish in the municipality of Trofa
- Santiago de Candoso, a parish in the municipality of Guimarães
- Santiago do Cacém, a parish and a municipality in the Setubal district
- Santiago de Carreiras, a parish in the municipality of Vila Verde
- Santiago de Cassurrães, a parish in the municipality of Mangualde
- Santiago de Figueiró, a parish in the municipality of Amarante
- Santiago de Litém, a parish in the municipality of Pombal
- Santiago de Montalegre, a parish in the municipality of Sardoal
- Santiago de Piães, a parish in the municipality of Cinfães
- Santiago de Riba-Ul, a parish in the municipality of Oliveira de Azeméis
- Santiago de Subarrifana, a parish in the municipality of Penafiel
- Santiago de Vila Chã, a parish in the municipality of Ponte da Barca
- Santiago do Escoural, a parish in the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo
- Santiago dos Velhos, a parish in the municipality of Arruda dos Vinhos
- São Pedro e Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Torres Vedras
- Santiago Maior
- Santiago Maior, a parish in the municipality of Alandroal
- Santiago Maior, a parish in the municipality of Beja
- Santiago Maior, a parish in the municipality of Castelo de Vide
- Vale de Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Amarante
- Spain
- Asturia:
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Valdés
- Santiago, a parish in the municipality of Sariego
- Other
- Santiago de la Ribera, a cluster of San Javier in Murcia
- Santiago (comarca), a comarca in the province of A Coruña, Spain
- Canary Islands
- Santiago del Teide, a municipality in the island of Teide in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Landforms

- Santiago, Cape Verde, one of the islands of Cape Verde
- Santiago Island, Galapagos Islands
- Santiago River, a tributary of the Amazon River

Historic uses

- Santiago was the Spanish name given to the island of Xamayca, now called Jamaica
- Santiago was the Spanish battle cry

Other uses

- Battle of Santiago de Cuba ja:サンティアゴ ko:산티아고

Chile

The Republic of Chile is a country in South America occupying a long coastal strip between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north.

Origin of the name

There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to one theory the Incas of Peru, who had failed to conquer the Araucanians, called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a tribal chief ("cacique") called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest. Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the indigenous Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends" or "the deepest point of the Earth," or from the Aymara tchili meaning "snow"; another meaning attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of a bird call. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-36 called themselves the "men of Chilli."

History

About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's remoteness and the fierce opposition of the native population prevented extensive settlement. Inca In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the earth, the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan, discovered the southern passage now named after him, the Straits of Magellan. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold but were turned back by the local population. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The first permanent European settlement, Santiago, was founded in 1541 by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Conquest of the land that is today called Chile took place only gradually, and the Europeans suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the local population. A massive Mapuche insurrection that began in 1553 resulted in Valdivia's death and the destruction of many of the colony's principal settlements. Subsequent major insurrections took place in 1598 and in 1655. Each time the Mapuche and other native groups revolted, the southern border of the colony was driven northward. The abolition of slavery in 1683 defused tensions on the frontier between the colony and the Mapuche land to the south, and permitted increased trade between colonists and Mapuches. The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph, in 1808. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand—heir to the deposed king—was formed on September 18, 1810. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the Reconquista led to a prolonged struggle. monarchy Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José de San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. The system of presidential absolutism eventually predominated, but wealthy landowners continued to control Chile. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians, finally completing the conquest begun more than three centuries earlier. In 1881, the government signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third, eliminating Bolivia's access to the Pacific, and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. The Chilean Civil War in 1891 brought about a redistribution of power between the President and Congress, and Chile established a parliamentary style democracy. However, the Civil War had also been a contest between those who favored the development of local industries and powerful Chilean banking interests, particularly the House of Edwards who had strong ties to foreign investors. Hence the Chilean economy partially degenerated into a system protecting the interests of a ruling oligarchy. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, Arturo Alessandri Palma, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. Alessandri Palma's reformist tendencies were partly tempered later by an admiration for some elements of Mussolini's Italian Corporate State. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose. A military coup led by General Luis Altamirano in 1924 set off a period of great political instability that lasted until 1932. The longest lasting of the ten governments between those years was that of General Carlos Ibáñez, who briefly held power in 1925 and then again between 1927 and 1931 in what was a de facto dictatorship, although not really comparable in harshness or corruption to the type of military dictatorship that has often bedeviled the rest of Latin America, and certainly not comparable to the violent and repressive regime of Augusto Pinochet decades later. By relinquishing power to a democratically elected successor, Ibáñez del Campo retained the respect of a large enough segment of the population to remain a viable politician for more than thirty years, in spite of the vague and shifting nature of his ideology. When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy. In 1952, voters returned Ibáñez, now reincarnated as a sort of Chilean Perón, to office for another 6 years. Jorge Alessandri succeeded Ibáñez in 1958, bringing Chilean conservatism back into power democratically for another term. The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende Gossens, a Marxist physician and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP or "Unidad Popular") coalition of the Socialist, Communist, Radical, and Social-Democratic Parties, along with dissident Christian Democrats, the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU), and the Independent Popular Action, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest. Despite pressure from the government of the United States, the Chilean Congress, keeping with tradition, conducted a runoff vote between the leading candidates, Allende and former president Jorge Alessandri and chose Allende by a vote of 153 to 35. Frei refused to form an alliance with Alessandri to oppose Allende, on the grounds that the Christian Democrats were a workers party and could not make common cause with the oligarchs. Allende's program included advancement of workers' interests; a thoroughgoing implementation of agrarian reform; the reorganization of the national economy into socialized, mixed, and private sectors; a foreign policy of "international solidarity" and national independence; and a new institutional order (the "people's state" or "poder popular"), including the institution of a unicameral congress. The Popular Unity platform also called for nationalization of foreign (U.S.) ownership of Chile's major copper mines. An economic depression that began in 1967 peaked in 1970, exacerbated by capital flight, plummeting private investment, and withdrawal of bank deposits by those opposed to Allende's socialist program. Production fell and unemployment rose. Allende adopted measures including price freezes, wage increases, and tax reforms, which had the effect of increasing consumer spending and redistributing income downward. Joint public-private public works projects helped reduce unemployment. Much of the banking sector was nationalized. Many enterprises within the copper, coal, iron, nitrate, and steel industries were expropriated, nationalized, or subjected to state intervention. Industrial output increased sharply and unemployment fell during the Allende administration's first year. Other reforms undertaken during the early Allende period included redistribution of millions of hectares of land to landless agricultural workers as part of the agrarian reform program, giving the armed forces an overdue pay increase, and providing free milk to children. The Indian Peoples Development Corporation and the Mapuche Vocational Institute were founded to address the needs of Chile's indigenous population. The nationalization of U.S. and other foreign-owned companies led to increased tensions with the United States. The Nixon administration brought international financial pressure to bear in order to restrict economic credit to Chile. Simultaneously, the CIA funded opposition media, politicians, and organizations, helping to accelerate a campaign of domestic destabilization. Interestingly, a CIA plan to buy the cooperation of Chilean members of Congress failed due to the shortage of sufficiently corruptible representatives. By 1972, the economic progress of Allende's first year had been reversed and the economy was in crisis. Political polarization increased, and large mobilizations of both pro- and anti-government groups became frequent, often leading to clashes. By early 1973, inflation was out of control. The crippled economy was further battered by prolonged and sometimes simultaneous strikes by physicians, teachers, students, truck owners, copper workers, and the small business class. A military coup supported by the CIA overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace (Palacio de La Moneda), Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime were marked by serious human rights violations. On October 1973, at least 70 persons were murdered by the Caravan of Death. At least a thousand people were executed during the first six months of Pinochet in office, and at least two thousand more were killed during the next sixteen years, as reported by the Valech Report. Some 30,000 were forced to flee the country. A new Constitution was approved by a highly irregular and undemocratic plebiscite characterized by the absence of registration lists, on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. In the late 1980s, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union and limited political activity. The right-wing military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies. During its nearly 17 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment, although the copper industry and other important mineral resources were not returned to foreign ownership. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans elected a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress on December 14, 1989. Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 16 political parties called the Concertación, received an absolute majority of votes. President Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994. In December 1993, Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the son of previous president Eduardo Frei Montalva, led the Concertación coalition to victory with an absolute majority of votes. President Frei's administration was inaugurated in March 1994. A presidential election was held on December 12, 1999, but none of the six candidates obtained a majority, which led to an unprecedented runoff election on January 16, 2000. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party led the Concertación coalition to a narrow victory, with 51.31% of the votes. He was sworn in March 11, 2000, for a 6-year term.

Politics

Chile's Constitution was approved in a tightly controlled national plebiscite in September 1980, under the military government of Augusto Pinochet. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In 2005 over 50 reforms were approved, which eliminated the remaining undemocratic areas of the text, such as the existence of non-elected Senators (institutional senators, or senators for life) and the inability of the President to remove the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. These reforms led the President to controversially declare Chile's transition to democracy as complete. Chile's bicameral Congress has a 48-seat Senate—38 elected, 9 appointed, 1 for life—and a 120-member Chamber of Deputies. Deputies are elected every 4 years. Senators serve for 8 years with staggered terms. The current Senate is evenly split 24-24 between pro-government and opposition Senators. Nine institutional senators were appointed in 1999, and two "senators for life," former Presidents Pinochet (who resigned in 2002) and Frei. (Chile's Constitution provided that former presidents who have served at least 6 years shall be entitled to a lifetime senate seat.) The last congressional elections were held in December 2001. The current lower house—the Chamber of Deputies—contains 60 members of the governing center-left coalition and 56 from the center-right opposition. Currently 4 Deputies have their voting rights suspended on legal grounds. The Congress is located in the port city of Valparaíso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two lower chamber seats apportioned to each chamber's electoral districts. Typically, the two largest coalitions split the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats. In the 2001 congressional elections, the conservative Independent Democratic Union surpassed the Christian Democrats for the first time to become the largest party in the lower house. The Communist Party again failed to gain any seats in the 2001 elections. The next presidential and congressional elections are set for December 2005. (See Chilean presidential election, 2005.) Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court. Chile will complete in mid-2005 a multi-year overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

Regions

Chile is divided into 13 regions, each of which is headed by an intendente. Every region is further divided into provinces with a Gobernador Provincial. Finally each province is divided into various Comunas each with its own mayor. Intendentes and gobernadores are appointed by the president, mayors are elected by popular vote. Each region is designated by a name and a Roman numeral. Numbers are assigned from north to south. In general the Roman numeral is used, rather than the name. The only exception is the region where Santiago is situated, which is designated RM, that stands for Región Metropolitana, Metropolitan Region.

Geography

Roman numeral Roman numeral A long and narrow coastal region on the west side of the Andes Mountains, Chile stretches over 4,630 km (2,880 miles) north to south, but only 430 km (265 mi) at its widest point east to west. The northern Atacama desert contains great mineral wealth, primarily copper and nitrates. The relatively small Central Valley, which includes Santiago, dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the historical center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it integrated the northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. The Andes Mountains are located on the eastern border. Chile is the longest (N-S) country in the world (over 4,200km), and also claims a large section of Antarctica as part of its territory. Chile controls Easter Island, the easternmost island of Polynesia, which it incorporated to its territory in 1888, and Robinson Crusoe Island, more than 600 km from the mainland, in the Juan Fernández archipelago.

Economy

Juan Fernández After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile experienced a moderate downturn in 1999 brought on by the global economic slowdown. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.1%. Most experts expect GDP growth of around 6% in 2005. Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant Codelco and a few other enterprises. Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed Free Trade agreements (FTAs) with several important economies, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. High domestic savings and investment rates also helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. The privatized national pension system has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP in 2003. Unemployment has hovered in the 8%-10% range in recent years, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. Unemployment remained at 8.8% at the end of 2004 in spite of strong economic growth. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The share of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a person's minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% of the population in 1987 to 18.8% in 2003. Chile's independent Central bank pursues a policy of maintaining inflation between 2% and 4%. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered inflation of 2.4% in 2004 and is expected to see a 2.5% increase in 2005. Most wage settlements and spending decisions are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds. Total foreign direct investment rose to $7.1 billion in 2004, up from $2.5 billion in 2003. Both foreign and domestic investment in Chile had declined during the country’s period of slower economic growth from 1999-2003, but appear to be recovering strongly. The Chilean Government committed, in early 2002, to undertake a series of microeconomic reforms designed to create new incentives for private investment. The government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to invest in the region. Chile's welcoming attitude toward foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. The U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement offers a number of other investor protections.

Foreign Trade

Chile's economy is highly dependent on international trade. In 2004, exports accounted for about 34% of GDP. Chile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports; the state-owned firm Codelco is the world's largest copper-producing company. Nontraditional exports have grown faster than those of copper and other minerals. In 1975, non-mineral exports made up just over 30% of total exports, whereas now they account for about 60%. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine. The trade balance for 2004 showed a historic surplus $9 billion, considerably higher than 2003. Total exports in 2004 were $32 billion, a 52.1% increase from $20.4 billion in 2003. Chile's export markets are fairly balanced among Europe (25.1%), Asia (33.1%), Latin America (15.7%), and North America (19%). The U.S., the largest national market, takes in 17.3% of Chile's exports. Asia has been the fastest-growing export market in recent years. Chilean imports increased 30% in 2004, to $23 billion, reflecting a positive change in consumer demand and economic recovery. Capital goods made up about 66% of total imports. The United States represented 14.6% of Chilean imports in 2004. As a bloc, the European Union (EU) in 2004 supplied 16.3% of Chile's imports, while Argentina contributed 16%. Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's WTO obligations in 2002 and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Chile will have to phase out the price bands within 12 years under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA. Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued liberalizing trade agreements. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Chile, a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003. The agreement will lead to completely duty free bilateral trade within 12 years. The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S and Chilean congresses. Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Chile also has signed trade agreements with China, as well as a four -partite agreement with Singapore, New Zealand and the Kingdom of Brunei Darussalam (P4). Currently it is negotiating with India.

Finance

Chile's financial sector has grown faster than other areas of the economy over the last few years; a banking reform law approved in 1997 broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001. Chileans have enjoyed the recent introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has been accompanied by increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $54 billion in late 2004, has provided an important source of investment capital for the capital market. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (Standard & Poor's A+) of countries in Latin America. There are three main ways Chilean firms raise funds abroad: bank loans, bond issue, and the selling of stock on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts (ADR's). Nearly all of the funds raised go to finance investment. The government is paying off its foreign debt. The combined public and private foreign debt was roughly over 50% of GDP at the end of 2004—low by Latin American standards.

Defense

Standard & Poor's Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. Under the 1980 Constitution, the services enjoyed considerable autonomy, and the President could not remove service commanders on his own authority. However, reforms made in 2005 to the Constitution now give the President the right to remove the Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces.

Army

The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is Maj. Gen. Juan Emilio Cheyre. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional armies in the world and has one of the most technologically advanced armies in Latin America. It also operates Leopard I and AMX-30 main battle tanks.

Navy

Adm. Rodolfo Codina Díaz directs the 25,000-person Navy, including 5,000 Marines. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only six are operational major combatants (destroyers and frigates). Those ships are based in Valparaíso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates three submarines based in Talcahuano.

Air Force (FACH)

Gen. Osvaldo Sarabia heads a force of 12,500. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, Antarctica. The FACH will begin taking delivery of 10 U.S. F-16 aircraft in 2006.

Carabineros

After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Gen. Alberto Cienfuegos is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

Foreign relations

Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile and has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade. The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations.

Demographics

War of the Pacific Unlike some of its South American neighbours, Chile is a relatively homogenous country. Around 95% of Chileans descend from early Spanish colonists, with the overwhelming part also possessing Native American ancestry in varying degrees - thus deeming the population majority as mestizo. During the colonial period, Spain found it necessary to maintain a continual influx of soldiers to protect its distant American colonies. Spaniards arrived from all regions of Spain, including: Andalucia, Extremadura and the Basque country, and many of them ended up settling in Chile. The combination of an economy based on temperate-zone agriculture, Amerindian resistance to Spanish occupation, and a continuous influx of Spaniards from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the colonial period defined the main body of Chile's mestizo majority population to one where the average Spanish input is greater than in neighbouring Andean mestizo populations. People of relatively unmixed Spanish ancestry are not uncommon. Those of unmixed European ancestry are estimated between 5 to 10 percent. People that self-identify solely as members of any of the country's many indigenous groups number around 700,000 individuals, or 5% of the country's total population. Of that 700,000, around 80% are Mapuche that reside mainly in the south-central area of the country. Aymara and Quechua-speaking populations live along the northern border with Peru and Bolivia. There are also around 5,000 polynesian people who are indigenous to the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Rapanui) in the Pacific. Chileans descended from non-Spanish European nationalities are not very numerous, and they include a small but influential number of descendants of Irish immigrants which arrived in Chile during the Spanish colonial period, descendants of English immigrants (mainly merchants and sailors). A small scale government-sponsored immigration from Germany began in 1848, and in time, changed the cultural makeup of the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno, which still show a strong German influence. Other historically significant immigrant groups include people of Italian ancestry (Valparaíso Region) , Croatian (Antofagasta and Punta Arenas), French, Polish and peoples from Middle Eastern backgrounds (including the second largest Palestinian colony outside of the Middle East). In the last decade there has been an influx of Koreans who settled in small sections of Santiago. In recent years, the difficult economic situation in neighbouring Peru and Argentina has resulted in work-related trans-Andean migration to Chile.

Culture

Northern Chile was an important center of culture in the medieval and early modern Inca empire. Afterwards, their culture was dominated by the Spanish during the Colonial and early Republican period. Other European influences, primarily English and French, began in the 19th century and have continued until today, as in other Western societies. The national dance is the cueca. Another form of traditional Chilean song, though not a dance, is the tonada. Arising from music imported by the Spanish colonists, it is distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody. In the mid-1960s native musical forms were revitalized by the Parra family with the Nueva Canción Chilena, which was associated with political activists and reformers. Chileans call their country País de Poetas which means land of poets.

National symbols

Nueva Canción Chilena The national flower is the copihue (Lapageria rosea, Chilean bellflower), which grows in the woods of southern Chile. copihue The coat of arms depicts the two national animals: the condor (Vultur gryphus, a very large bird that lives in the mountains) and the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus, an endangered white tail deer). It also has the legend Por la razón o la fuerza (By right or might or By reason or by force).

Miscellaneous topics

- Communications in Chile
- Elections in Chile
- Foreign relations of Chile
- Holidays in Chile
- List of Chilean companies
- List of Chileans
- List of Chilean television channels
- Transportation in Chile
- U.S. intervention in Chile
- Chilean pharmaceutical policy

International rankings

Overall

- The Economist: [http://www.economist.com/theworldin/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3372495&d=2005 The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005], ranked 31 out of 111 countries (first in Latin America)
- UNDP: Human Development Index [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/ 2005], ranked 37 out of 177 countries (second in Latin America after Argentina)

Economy

- Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal: [http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/ 2005] Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 11 out of 155 countries (first in Latin America)
- IMD International: [http://www01.imd.ch/wcy/ World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005], ranked 19 out of 60 economies (countries and regions) (first in Latin America)
- Fraser Institute: Economic Freedom of the World: [http://www.freetheworld.com/ 2005 Annual Report], ranked 20 out of 127 countries (tied with Belgium, Costa Rica and Hungary) (first in Latin America)
- World Economic Forum: [http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CGlobal+Competitiveness+Report Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index], ranked 23 out of 117 countries (first in Latin America)
- World Bank: [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20643669~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html Where is the Wealth of Nations? (2005) - Total wealth per capita], ranked 32 out of 118 countries (fourth in Latin America after Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil)

Other

- Freedom House: [http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/survey2005.htm Freedom in the World 2005], average score: 1 (Free) (Costa Rica and Uruguay are the only two other Latin American countries with the highest score)
- Brown University: [http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2005-06/05-024.html Fifth Annual Global E-Government Study (2005)], ranked 13 out of 198 countries (first in Latin America)
- Save the Children: [http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/report_2005/ State of the World's Mothers 2005], ranked 17 out of 110 countries (tied with Argentina) (third in Latin America after Costa Rica and Cuba)
- Transparency International: [http://ww1.transparency.org/cpi/2005/cpi2005_infocus.html Corruption Perceptions Index 2005], ranked 21 out of 159 countries (tied with Japan) (first in Latin America)
- A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: [http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,4,1,116 Globalization Index 2005], ranked 34 out of 62 countries (second in Latin America after Panama)
- World Economic Forum: [http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CGlobal+Information+Technology+Report Global Information Technology Report 2004-2005 - Networked Readiness Index], ranked 35 out of 104 countries (first in Latin America)
- Yale University/Columbia University: [http://www.yale.edu/esi/ 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index], ranked 42 out of 146 countries (ninth in Latin America after Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia and Panama)
- Reporters without borders: [http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554 Worldwide press freedom index 2005], ranked 50 out of 167 countries (fifth in Latin America after El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Uruguay)

References

- [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs], United States Department of State, April 2005
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cltoc.html Library of Congress country profile]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html The (CIA) World Factbook: Chile]

External links

State-related resources

- [http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/ Gobierno] - Government ([http://www.chileangovernment.cl/ English version])
- [http://www.presidencia.cl/ Presidencia] - Presidency ([http://www.presidencyofchile.cl/ English version])
- [http://www.interior.cl/ Ministerio del Interior] - Interior Ministry
- [http://www.minrel.cl/ Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores] - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- [http://www.congreso.cl/ Congreso Nacional] - National Congress
- [http://www.senado.cl/ Senado] - Senate
- [http://www.camara.cl/ Cámara de Diputados] - Chamber of Deputies
- [http://www.bcn.cl/ Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional] - Library of National Congress
- [http://www.poderjudicial.cl/ Poder Judicial] - Judiciary

General information

- [http://www.chilephoto.cl/cgi-bin/chilephoto/chilephoto.cgi Pictures]
- [http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/la/chile/ Several links compiled by LANIC]
-
- [http://www.chilebosque.cl Chilean native flora species] Category:South American countries zh-min-nan:Chile ko:칠레 ms:Chile ja:チリ simple:Chile th:ประเทศชิลี fiu-vro:Tsiili

Columbia University

Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1754 as King's College and is the fifth oldest chartered institution of higher education in the United States. During these early years, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, and Robert Livingston studied at Columbia. Three current United States Senators, sixteen current Chief Executives of Fortune 500 companies, and thirty-seven Nobel Prize winners have degrees from Columbia. Three of the eleven richest Americans have a degree from Columbia. In culture and the arts, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, Jacques Barzun, Lionel Trilling, Robert Nozick, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Paul Auster are among Columbia's alumni. The university is a member of the Ivy League. It is legally known as Columbia University in the City of New York, and is incorporated as Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. Its undergraduate schools are Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). A third school, the School of General Studies is for students whose undergraduate education was interrupted, and now wish to resume their studies. The university is also affiliated with Barnard College (an undergraduate liberal arts college for women and one of the Seven Sisters), Teachers College, Jewish Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary. The university's library system is among the world's largest, including currently 8.6 million bound volumes.

Campus

Due to former university president Seth Low's late-19th century vision of a university campus where all disciplines could be taught in one location, most of Columbia's graduate and undergraduate studies are conducted in Morningside Heights. This campus was designed by acclaimed architects McKim, Mead, and White and is considered one of their greater successes. McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead, and White] Columbia's main campus occupies six blocks, 32 acres (132,000 m²), in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. As Morningside Heights is bordered by Harlem and the Upper West Side, students have access to a variety of historic institutions in the immediate area, including Grant's Tomb, The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, and several famous jazz clubs and soul food restaurants in the area. Health-related schools are located at the Columbia University Medical Center, about fifty blocks uptown. Columbia also owns the 26 acre Baker Field, which has the facilities for field sports, outdoor track, tennis, and rowing. This makes Columbia, by some accounts, the city's third-largest landowner after the Roman Catholic Church and the City itself, with holdings that include the fifty-story former General Electric Building at 570 Lexington Avenue (not to be confused with the current GE Building in Rockefeller Center), and 7300 apartments in Manhattan (used to house faculty, staff, and graduate students). There is a third campus on the west bank of the Hudson River, the 157 acre Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York; and a fourth, 540 acres at the previous Harriman Estate, fifty miles north of New York City.

History

Founded as