Officially Republic of Chile
Country, southwestern South America.
Originally inhabited by native people, including the Mapuche, the area was invaded by the Spanish in 1536. A settlement begun at Santiago in 1541 was governed under the Viceroyalty of Peru but became a separate captaincy general in 1778. Its people revolted against Spanish rule in 1810; independence was finally assured by the victory of Argentine and Chilean forces under José de San Martin at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817. The area was governed by Chilean Gen. Bernardo O’Higgins until 1823. In the War of the Pacific (1879–83) against Peru and Bolivia, Chile won the rich nitrate fields on the coast of Bolivia, effectively severing that country’s access to the coast. Chile remained neutral in World War I (1914–18); it entered World War II (1939–45) on the side of the Axis but cut ties with them in 1943. In 1970 Salvador Allende was elected president, becoming the first avowed Marxist to be elected head of state in Latin America. Following economic upheaval, he was overthrown in 1973 in a coup led by Augusto Pinochet, whose military regime harshly suppressed internal opposition. A national referendum in 1988 and elections the following year removed Pinochet from power and returned the country to democratic rule. Throughout the 1990s Chile’s economy remained one of the strongest in Latin America.
