Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the
capital and largest city of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
as well as one of the
largest cities in the Americas
This is a list of the 50 largest cities in the Americas by population residing within city limits as of 2015, the most recent year for which official population census results, estimates or short-term projections are available for most of these ci ...
. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
, the
Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...
, whose total population is 8 million which is nearly 40% of the country's population, of which more than 6 million live in the city's continuous urban area. The city is entirely in the country's
central valley. Most of the city lies between
above mean sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''.
Th ...
.
Founded in 1541 by the Spanish
conquistador Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, wh ...
, Santiago has been the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city has a downtown core of 19th-century neoclassical architecture and winding side-streets, dotted by art deco, neo-gothic, and other styles. Santiago's cityscape is shaped by several stand-alone hills and the fast-flowing
Mapocho River
The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two.
Course
The Mapo ...
, lined by parks such as
Parque Forestal
Parque Forestal is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park was created on reclaimed land from the Mapocho River
The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Ch ...
and
Balmaceda Park
Balmaceda Park is an urban park along the Mapocho River in Providencia, Santiago de Chile. It was originally created under the name of Parque Japonés (Japanese Park) in 1930. When Chile joined the Allies during the World War II, its name was cha ...
. The
Andes Mountains can be seen from most points in the city. These mountains contribute to a considerable
smog problem, particularly during winter, due to the lack of rain. The city outskirts are surrounded by vineyards and Santiago is within an hour of both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
Santiago is the political and financial center of Chile and is home to the regional headquarters of many multinational corporations. The Chilean executive and judiciary are located in Santiago, but Congress meets mostly in nearby
Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
. Santiago is named after the biblical figure
Saint James. The city will host the
2023 Pan American Games
The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...
.
Nomenclature
![WLMCL - Municipalidad de Santiago](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/WLMCL_-_Municipalidad_de_Santiago.JPG)
In Chile, there are several entities which have the name of "Santiago" that are often confused. The
commune of Santiago, sometimes referred to as "Downtown/Central Santiago" (''Santiago Centro''), is an
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
that comprises roughly the area occupied by the city during its colonial period. The commune, administered by the Municipality of Santiago and headed by a mayor, is part of the
Santiago Province headed by a provincial delegate, which is in itself a subdivision of the
Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...
headed by a
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. While the mayor and governor are elected by popular vote, the provincial delegate is designated by the
President of the Republic as its local representative.
Despite these classifications, when the term "Santiago" is used without another descriptor, it usually refers to what is also known as Greater Santiago (''Gran Santiago''), the
metropolitan area defined by its urban continuity that includes the
commune of Santiago and more than 40 other communes, which together comprise the majority of the
Santiago Province and some areas of neighboring provinces (see
Political divisions). The definition of this metropolitan area has evolved due to the continuing expansion of the city and the absorption of smaller cities and rural areas.
The name of "Santiago" originates in the name chosen by the Spanish conqueror, Pedro de Valdivia, when he founded the city in 1541. Valdivia honored
James the Great
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
, the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. In the
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...
, the name of this saint is rendered in different ways, as
Diego
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
...
,
Jaime
Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...
,
Jacobo
Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob. Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
* Alfredo Jacobo (born 1982), Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Mexico
* Cesar Chavez Jacobo, Dominican profession ...
or
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...
; the latter is derived from the
Galician evolution of
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
''Sanctu Iacobu''. There is no indigenous name for the area occupied by Santiago;
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...
language uses the name "Santiaw" as an adaptation of the Spanish name of the city.
When founded, Valdivia used the name "Santiago del Nuevo Extremo" or "
Nueva Extremadura Nueva Extremadura means "New Extremadura" in Spanish, and originates from Extremadura, Spain.
Nueva Extremadura could refer to
* a large jurisdiction in the north of New Spain, bordered in the 17th century to its west and south by Nueva Vizcaya, b ...
", based on the territory he expected to colonize and that he named honoring his native
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
. The name didn't persist for long and was eventually replaced by the local name of Chile. To differentiate with
other cities called Santiago, the South American city is sometimes called "Santiago de Chile" in Spanish and other languages.
The city and region's
demonym is ''santiaguinos'' (male) and ''santiaguinas'' (female).
History
Prehistory
According to certain archeological investigations, it is believed that the first human groups reached the Santiago basin in the
10th millennium BC
The 10th millennium BC spanned the years 10,000 BC to 9001 BC (c. 12 ka to c. 11 ka). It marks the beginning of the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic via the interim Mesolithic ( Northern Europe and Western Europe) and Epip ...
. The groups were mainly
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic hunter-gatherers, who traveled from the coast to the interior in search of
guanacos
The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations.
Etymology
The guanaco g ...
during the time of the Andean snowmelt. About the year 800, the first
sedentary
Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soci ...
inhabitants began to settle due to the formation of agricultural communities along the
Mapocho River
The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two.
Course
The Mapo ...
, mainly
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
,
potatoes and
beans
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...
, and the domestication of
camelids
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...
in the area.
The villages established in the areas belonging to the
Picunche
The Picunche (a Mapudungun word meaning "North People"), also referred to as ''picones'' by the Spanish, were a Mapudungun-speaking people living to the north of the Mapuches or Araucanians (a name given to those Mapuche living between the Itata an ...
s (the name given by Chileans) or
Promaucae people (name given by the Incas), were subject to the
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
throughout the late fifteenth century and into the early sixteenth century. The Incas settled in the valley of
mitima Mitma was a policy of forced resettlement employed by the Inca empire, Incas. It involved the forceful migration of groups of extended families or ethnic groups from their home territory to lands recently conquered by the Incas. The objective was to ...
s, the main installation settled in the center of the present city, with strongholds such as
Huaca de Chena
Huaca de Chena, also known as the Chena Pukara, is an Inca site on Chena Mountain, in the basin of San Bernardo, at the edge of the Calera de Tango and Maipo Province communes in Chile. Tala Canta Ilabe was the last Inca who celebrated Inti ...
and the sanctuary of
El Plomo hill. The area would have served as a basis for the failed Inca expeditions southward road junction as the
Inca Trail.
Founding of the city
![Fundacion de Santiago](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Fundacion_de_Santiago.jpg)
Having been sent by
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru.
Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...
from
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
and having made the long journey from
Cuzco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...
,
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
conquistador
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, wh ...
reached the valley of the Mapocho on 13 December 1540. The hosts of Valdivia camped by the river in the slopes of the
Tupahue hill and slowly began to interact with the
Picunche people who inhabited the area. Valdivia later summoned the chiefs of the area to a parliament, where he explained his intention to found a city on behalf of the king
Carlos I of Spain
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fro ...
, which would be the capital of his governorship of
Nueva Extremadura Nueva Extremadura means "New Extremadura" in Spanish, and originates from Extremadura, Spain.
Nueva Extremadura could refer to
* a large jurisdiction in the north of New Spain, bordered in the 17th century to its west and south by Nueva Vizcaya, b ...
. The natives accepted and even recommended the foundation of the town on a small island between two branches of the river next to a small hill called
Huelén.
On 12 February 1541 Valdivia officially founded the city of ''Santiago del Nuevo Extremo'' (''Santiago of New Extremadura'') near the Huelén, renamed by the conqueror as
Santa Lucia. Following colonial rule, Valdivia entrusted the layout of the new town to master builder
Pedro de Gamboa Pedro de Gamboa (died 1550) was a Spanish soldier who fought for Henry VIII of England in France and Scotland.
He was from Madrid.
In 1545 he commanded a company of Spanish soldiers for the Earl of Hertford. Eustace Chapuys describes him as a ''Ma ...
, who would design the city
grid layout. In the center of the city, Gamboa designed a
Plaza Mayor, around which various plots for the
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
and the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
's house were selected. In total, eight blocks from north to south, and ten from east to west, were built. Each solar (quarter block) was given to the settlers, who built houses of mud and straw.
Valdivia left months later to the south with his troops, beginning the
War of Arauco
The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities and force Mapuche ...
. Santiago was left unprotected. The indigenous hosts of
Michimalonco
Michima Lonco (fl. mid-16th century) (''michima'' means "foreigner" and ''lonco'' means "head" or "chief" in Mapudungun language) was a Picunche chief said to be a great warrior, born in the Aconcagua Valley and educated in Cusco by the Inca E ...
used this to their advantage, and attacked the fledgling city. On 11 September 1541, the city was destroyed by the natives, but the 55-strong Spanish Garrison managed to defend the fort. The resistance was led by
Inés de Suárez, a mistress to Valdivia. When she realized they were being overrun, she ordered the execution of all native prisoners, and proceeded to put their heads on pikes and also threw a few heads to the natives. In face of this barbaric act, the natives dispersed in terror. The city would be slowly rebuilt, giving prominence to the newly founded
Concepción, where the
Royal Audiencia of Chile was then founded in 1565. However, the constant danger faced by Concepción, due partly to its proximity to the War of Arauco and also to a succession of devastating earthquakes, would not allow the definitive establishment of the Royal Court in Santiago until 1607. This establishment reaffirmed the city's role as capital.
During the early years of the city the Spanish suffered from severe shortages of food and other supplies. The cause of this was a strategy by the local indigenous
Picunche
The Picunche (a Mapudungun word meaning "North People"), also referred to as ''picones'' by the Spanish, were a Mapudungun-speaking people living to the north of the Mapuches or Araucanians (a name given to those Mapuche living between the Itata an ...
to stop cultivation and retreat to more distant places.
[ Isolated from reinforcements the Spanish had to resort to eat whatever they found, lack of clothes meant some Spanish came to dress with hides from dogs, cats, ]sea lions
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
and foxes
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
.
Colonial Santiago
Although early Santiago appeared to be in imminent danger of permanent destruction, threatened by Indigenous attacks, earthquakes, and a series of floods, the city began to grow rapidly. Of the 126 blocks designed by Gamboa in 1558, 40 were occupied, and in 1580, the first major buildings in the city began to rise, the start of construction highlighted with the placing of the foundation stone of the first Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
in 1561 and the building of the church of San Francisco in 1572. Both of these constructions consisted of mainly adobe and stone. In addition to construction of important buildings, the city began to develop as nearby lands welcomed tens of thousands of livestock.
A series of disasters impeded the development of the city during the 16th and 17th centuries: an earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
, a 1575 smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics of infectious ...
, in 1590, 1608, and 1618, the Mapocho River floods, and, finally, the earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
of 13 May 1647, which killed over 600 people and affected more than 5,000 others. However, these disasters would not stop the growth of the capital of the Captaincy General of Chile
The Captaincy General of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ) or Governorate of Chile (known colloquially and unofficially as the Kingdom of Chile), was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1817 that was, for most of its existenc ...
at a time when all the power of the country was centered on the Plaza de Armas
The ''Plaza de Armas'' (literally Weapons Square, but better translated as Parade Square or parade ground) is the name for Latin American main squares. In the central region of Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo and in Central America as ...
santiaguina.
In 1767, the corregidor Luis Manuel de Zañartu, launched one of the most important architectural works of the entire colonial period, Calicanto Bridge, effectively connecting the city to La Chimba
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
on the north side of the river, and began the construction of embankments to prevent overflows of the Mapocho River. Although its builders were able to complete the bridge, the piers were constantly being damaged by the river. In 1780, Governor Agustín de Jáuregui
Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa (May 17, 1708/1711 – April 29, 1784) was a Spanish politician and soldier who served as governor of Chile (1772–80) and viceroy of Peru (1780–84).
Early life
Jáuregui was born in Lecároz, the son of Matías ...
hired the Italian architect Joaquín Toesca
Gioacchino Toesca e Ricci (1745–1799; known as Joaquín Toesca in the Spanish Empire) was an Italian architect who worked at the service of the Spanish Empire, mainly in Chile. He was mainly a Neoclassical architect although he also built Baro ...
, who would design, among other important works, the façade of the cathedral, the Palacio de La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secre ...
, the canal San Carlos
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow und ...
, and the final construction of the embankments during the government of Ambrosio O'Higgins
Ambrosio Bernardo O'Higgins y O'Higgins, 1st Marquess of Osorno (c. 1720 – 19 March 1801) born Ambrose Bernard O'Higgins (''Ambrós Bearnárd Ó hUiginn'', in Irish), was an Irish-Spanish colonial administrator and a member of the O'Higgins fa ...
. These important works were opened permanently in 1798. The O'Higgins government also oversaw the opening of the road to Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
in 1791, which connected the capital with the country's main port.
Capital of the Republic
18 September 1810 was proclaimed the First Government Junta in Santiago, beginning the process of establishing the independence of Chile. The city, which became the capital of the new nation, was threatened by various events, especially the nearby military actions.
Although some institutions, such as the National Institute National Institute may refer to:
* National Institute on Aging, United States (U.S.)
* National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S.
* National Institute of Mental Health, U.S.
* Belgranian National Institute, Argentina
* San Martín National Ins ...
and the National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
, were installed in the Patria Vieja
Patria Vieja (, ) refers to a time period in the History of Chile occurring between the First Junta of the Government (September 18, 1810) and the Disaster of Rancagua (October 1, 1814). In this period, Chilean measures were taken for the impri ...
, they were closed after the patriot defeat at the Battle of Rancagua
The Battle of Rancagua, also known in Chile as the Disaster of Rancagua, occurred on October 1, 1814, to October 2, 1814, when the Spanish Army under the command of Mariano Osorio defeated the rebel Chilean forces led by Bernardo O’Higgins. ...
in 1814. The royal government lasted until 1817, when the Army of the Andes
The Army of the Andes ( es, Ejército de los Andes) was a military force created by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina) and mustered by general José de San Martín in his campaign to free Chile from the Spanish Empire. In 181 ...
secured victory in battle of Chacabuco
The Battle of Chacabuco, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, occurred on February 12, 1817. The Army of the Andes of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, led by Captain–General José de San Martín, defeated a Spanish fo ...
, reinstating the patriot government in Santiago. Independence, however, was not assured. The Spanish army gained new victories in 1818 and headed for Santiago, but their march was definitively halted on the plains of the Maipo River, during the Battle of Maipú on 5 April 1818.
With the end of the war, Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...
was accepted as Supreme Director and, like his father, began a number of important works for the city. During the call Patria Nueva
Patria Nueva (''New Fatherland'') was a period in the history of Chile that began with the victory of Ejército de los Andes in the Battle of Chacabuco on 12 February 1817 and ended with the resignation of Bernardo O'Higgins as Supreme Director ...
, closed institutions reopened. The General Cemetery opened, work on the canal San Carlos
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow und ...
was completed, and, in the south arm of the Mapocho River, known as La Cañada, the drying riverbed, used for sometime as a landfill, was turned into an avenue, now known as the Alameda de las Delicias.
Two new earthquakes hit the city, one on 19 November 1822, and another on 20 February 1835. These two events, however, did not prevent the city's rapid, continued growth. In 1820 the city reported 46,000 inhabitants, while in 1854, the population reached 69,018. In 1865, the census reported 115,337 inhabitants. This significant increase was the result of suburban growth to the south and west of the capital, and in part to La Chimba, a vibrant district growing from the division of old properties that existed in the area. This new peripheral development led to the end of the traditional checkerboard structure that previously governed the city center.
19th century
During the years of the Republican era, institutions such as the University of Chile
The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843. (Universidad de Chile), the Normal School of Preceptors, the School of Arts and Crafts, and the Quinta Normal
Quinta Normal is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is named after a large park in the area.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Quinta Normal spans a ...
, which included the Museum of Fine Arts (now Museum of Science and Technology) and the National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...
, were founded. Created primarily for educational use, they also became examples of public planning during that period. In 1851 the first telegraph system connecting the capital with the Port of Valparaíso was inaugurated.
A new momentum in the urban development of the capital took place during the so-called "Liberal Republic" and the administration of Mayor Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. Among the main works during this period are the remodeling of the Cerro Santa Lucía
Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain".
Toponyms
;Bolivia:
* Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia
;Brazil:
* Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul
*Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...
which, despite its central location, had been in a state of poor repair.[ In an effort to transform Santiago, Vicuña Mackenna began construction of the ''Camino de Cintura'', a road surrounding the entire city. A new redevelopment of the ]Alameda Avenue
Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins ( en, General Liberator Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue), popularly known as La Alameda (meaning, a street bordered by poplar trees), is the main avenue of Santiago, Chile. It runs east-west in the center o ...
turned it into the main road of the city.
Also during this time and with the work of European landscapers in 1873, O'Higgins Park
O'Higgins Park (, formerly known as Parque Cousiño), with an area of around , is Santiago, Chile's second largest public park after Metropolitan Park. It is located in the center of the capital, in the Santiago Commune.
The park, named after B ...
came into existence. The park, open to the public, became a landmark in Santiago due to its large gardens, lakes, and carriage trails. Other important buildings were opened during this era, such as the Teatro Municipal opera house, and the Club Hípico de Santiago
Club Hípico de Santiago is a thoroughbred horse race track in Santiago, Chile.
History
The Club Hípico de Santiago, opened in 1870, is Chile's oldest racetrack and home to South America's oldest stakes race, the Clásico El Ensayo. It is one ...
. At the same time, the 1875 International Exposition
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
was held in the grounds of the Quinta Normal.
The city became the main hub of the national railway system. The first railroad reached the city on 14 September 1857, at the Santiago Estación Central railway station. Under construction at the time, the station would be opened permanently in 1884. During those years, railways connected the city to Valparaíso as well as regions in the north and south of Chile. The streets of Santiago were paved and by 1875 there were 1,107 railway cars in the city, while 45,000 people used tram services on a daily basis.
The centennial Santiago
With the arrival of the new century, the city began to experience various changes related to the strong development of industry
Industry may refer to:
Economics
* Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity
* Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery
* The wider industrial sector ...
. Valparaíso, which had hitherto been the economic center of the country slowly lost prominence at the expense of the capital. By 1895, 75% of the national manufacturing industry was in the capital and only 28% in the harbor city, and by 1910, major bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
s and shops were set up in the streets of the city center, leaving Valparaíso.
The enactment of the Autonomous Municipalities' act allowed municipalities to create various administrative divisions around the then Santiago ''departamento'', with the aim of improving local ruling. Maipú, Ñuñoa
Ñuñoa (; from Mapudungun ''Ñuñohue'', "place of yellow flowers") is a commune of the Northeastern zone of Santiago, in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile. According to the 2021 Urban Life Quality Index (ICVU), it is considered the fou ...
, Renca
Renca is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on May 6, 1894.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Renca spans an area of and has 133,500 inha ...
, Lampa and Colina were to be created in 1891, Providencia and Barrancas in 1897, and Las Condes in 1901. The La Victoria ''departamento'' was split with the creation of Lo Cañas in 1891, which would be split into La Granja and Puente Alto Puente, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Spanish language, may refer to:
People
* Puente (surname)
Places
*La Puente, California, USA
* Puente Alto, city and commune of Chile
*Puente de Ixtla, city in Mexico
*Puente Genil, village in the Spanish provi ...
in 1892, La Florida in 1899, and La Cisterna
La Cisterna (, Spanish for "the cistern") is a commune of Chile and census-designated city located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 30 May 1925. It is part of Greater Santiago.
Demographics
According to the ...
in 1925.
The San Cristobal Hill in this period began a long process of development. In 1903 an astronomical observatory was installed and the following year the first stone was placed for its 14-meter Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
statue, nowadays visible from various points of city. However, the shrine would not be completed until some decades later.
With the 1910 Chile Centennial celebrations, many urban projects were undertaken. The railway network was extended allowing connection of the city with its nascent suburbs by a new rail ring and route to the Cajón del Maipo, while a new railway station was built in the north of the city: the Mapocho Station. At the Mapocho river's southern side, the Parque Forestal
Parque Forestal is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park was created on reclaimed land from the Mapocho River
The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Ch ...
was created and new buildings such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Barros Arana public boarding school and the National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
were opened. In addition, the work would include a sewer system, covering about 85% of the urban population.
Population explosion
The 1920 census estimated the population of Santiago to be 507,296 inhabitants, equivalent to 13.6% of the population of Chile. This represented an increase of 52.5% from the census of 1907, i.e. an annual growth of 3.3%, almost three times the national figure. This growth was mainly due to the arrival of farmers from the south who came to work in factories and railroads which were under construction. However, this growth was experienced on the outskirts and not in the town itself.
During this time the downtown district was consolidated into a commercial, financial and administrative center, with the establishment of various portals and locales around Ahumada Street and a Civic District in the immediate surroundings of the Palace of La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secre ...
. The latter project involved the construction of various modernist buildings for the establishment of the offices of ministries and other public services, as well as commencing the construction of medium-rise buildings. On the other hand, the traditional inhabitants of the center began to migrate out of the city to more rural areas like Providencia and Ñuñoa
Ñuñoa (; from Mapudungun ''Ñuñohue'', "place of yellow flowers") is a commune of the Northeastern zone of Santiago, in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile. According to the 2021 Urban Life Quality Index (ICVU), it is considered the fou ...
, which hosted the oligarchy and the European immigrant professionals, and San Miguel for middle-class families. Furthermore, in the periphery villas were built various partners from various organizations of the time. Modernity expanded in the city, with the appearance of the first theaters, the extension of the telephone network and the opening of the Airport Los Cerrillos in 1928, among other advances.
The feeling that the early 20th century was an era of economic growth due to technological advances contrasted dramatically with the standard of living of lower social classes. The growth of the previous decades led to an unprecedented population explosion starting in 1929. The Great Depression caused the collapse of the nitrate industry in the north, leaving 60,000 unemployed, which added to the decline in agricultural exports, resulting in a total number for the unemployed to be about 300,000 nationwide. These unemployed workers saw Santiago and its booming industry as the only chance to survive. Many migrants arrived in Santiago with nothing and thousands had to survive on the streets due to the great difficulty in finding a place they could rent. Widespread disease, including tuberculosis, claimed the lives of hundreds of the homeless. Unemployment and living costs increased dramatically whilst the salaries of the population of Santiago fell.
The situation would change only several years later with a new industrial boom fostered by CORFO
The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from es, Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile. ...
and the expansion of the state apparatus from the late 1930s. At this time, the aristocracy lost much of its power and the middle class, composed of merchants, bureaucrats and professionals, acquired the role of setting national policy. In this context, Santiago began to develop a substantial middle- and lower-class population, while the upper classes sought refuge in the districts of the capital. Thus, the old moneyed class trips to Cousino and Alameda Park, lost hegemony over popular entertainment venues such as the National Stadium
Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...
emerged in 1938.
Greater Santiago
In the following decades, Santiago continued to grow unabated. In 1940, the city accumulated 952,075 inhabitants, in 1952 this figure rose to 1,350,409 residents and the census of 1960 totaled 1,907,378 santiaguinos. This growth was reflected in the urbanization of rural areas on the periphery, where families of middle and lower class with stable housing were established: in 1930 the urban area had an area of 6500 hectares, which in 1960 reached 20,900 and in 1980 to 38,296. Although most of the communities continued to grow, it is mainly concentrated in outlying communities such as Barrancas to the west, Conchalí
Conchalí () is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is a northwestern suburb of Santiago.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Conchalí spans an area of ...
northern and La Cisterna
La Cisterna (, Spanish for "the cistern") is a commune of Chile and census-designated city located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 30 May 1925. It is part of Greater Santiago.
Demographics
According to the ...
and La Granja to the south. For the upper class, it began to approach the foothills of Las Condes and La Reina
La Reina ( Spanish: "The Queen") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region created in 1963 from an eastern portion of the Ñuñoa commune. It belongs to the Northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile.
La Re ...
sector. The center, however, lost people leaving more space for the development of trade, banking and government.
Regulation of the growth only began to be implemented during the 1960s with the creation of various development plans for Greater Santiago, a concept that reflected the new reality of a much larger city. In 1958 the Intercommunal Plan of Santiago was released. The proposed scheme set a limit of 38 600 urban and semi hectares for a maximum population of 3,260,000 inhabitants, included plans for the construction of new avenues, like the Américo Vespucio Avenue
Américo Vespucio Avenue is a
ring road in Santiago, Chile named after Renaissance cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Two adjacent sections of the avenue are occupied by Vespucio Norte Express and Vespucio Sur free-flow tolling highways, which are ...
and Panamericana route 5, and the expansion of 'industrial belts'. The celebration of the World Cup in 1962 gave new impetus to implement plans for city improvement. In 1966 the Santiago Metropolitan Park
The Santiago Metropolitan Park is an urban park located within the city of Santiago, capital of Chile. Consisting of the San Cristóbal, Chacarillas and Los Gemelos hills, and the areas of Tupahue, Lo Saldés, Pirámide and Bosque Santiago, the ...
was established in the Cerro San Cristóbal, MINVU began eradicating shanty towns and building new homes. Finally, the Edificio Diego Portales was constructed in 1972.
In 1967 the new International Airport Pudahuel was opened, and, after years of discussion, in 1969 construction began on the Santiago Metro
The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by th ...
. The first phase ran beneath the western section of the Alameda and was opened in 1975. The Metro would become one of the most prestigious buildings in the city. In the following years it continued to expand, with two perpendicular lines in place by the end of 1978. Building telecommunications infrastructure was also an important development of this period, as reflected in the construction of the Torre Entel
Torre Entel (Entel Tower) is the name of a high TV and telecommunications tower in Santiago, Chile. Torre Entel has an observation deck open for visitors. Construction began in 1970 during Eduardo Frei Montalva term as president and it was ina ...
, which since its construction in 1975 has become one of the symbols of the capital and the tallest structure in the country for two decades.
After the coup of 1973 and the establishment of the military regime
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
, major changes in urban planning did not take place until the 1980s, when the government adopted a neoliberal economic model. In 1979, the master plan was amended. The urban area was extended to more than 62 000 ha for real estate development. This created urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
, especially in La Florida, with the city reaching 40 619 ha in size in the early 1990s. The 1992 census showed that Santiago had become the country's most populous municipality with 328,881 inhabitants. Meanwhile, a strong earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
struck the city on 3 March 1985. Although it caused few casualties, it left many people homeless and destroyed many old buildings.
The metropolis in the early twenty-first century
With the start of the transition to democracy in 1990, the city of Santiago had surpassed three million inhabitants, with the majority living in the south: La Florida was the most populous area, followed by Puente Alto Puente, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Spanish language, may refer to:
People
* Puente (surname)
Places
*La Puente, California, USA
* Puente Alto, city and commune of Chile
*Puente de Ixtla, city in Mexico
*Puente Genil, village in the Spanish provi ...
and Maipú. The real estate development in these municipalities and others like Quilicura
Quilicura ( ; ) is a commune of Chile located in capital Santiago. Founded in 1901, it was originally a satellite city on what were then the outskirts of the city of Santiago, but as urban sprawl has set in it is now quickly urbanizing from what w ...
and Peñalolén
Peñalolén (Mapudungun "fraternal meeting place") is a Chilean commune in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on November 15, 1984.
History
The commune was founded on November 15, 1984.
Drug arrests
During 2019, Ch ...
largely came from the construction of housing projects for middle-class families. Meanwhile, high-income families moved into the foothills, now called Barrio Alto, increasing the population of Las Condes and giving rise to new communes like Vitacura
Vitacura is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily high income families. It belongs to the Northeastern zone o ...
and Lo Barnechea.
The Providencia Avenue area became an important commercial hub in the eastern sector. This development was extended to Barrio Alto, which became an attractive location for the construction of high-rise buildings. Major companies and financial corporations were established in the area, which gave rise to a thriving modern business center known as '' Sanhattan''. The departure of these companies to Barrio Alto and the construction of shopping centers
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known collec ...
all around the city created a crisis in the city center. To reinvent the area, the main shopping streets were turned into pedestrian walkways, such as the Paseo Ahumada
Paseo Ahumada is four-block-long street in downtown Santiago. It extends in a north–south direction from Plaza de Armas to the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins and is lined by buildings housing retail establishments at their lower ...
, and the government instituted tax benefits for the construction of residential buildings, which attracted young adults.
The city began to face a series of problems generated by disorganized growth. Air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
reached critical levels during the winter months and a layer of smog settled over the city. The authorities adopted legislative measures to reduce industrial pollution and placed restrictions on vehicle use. The Metro was expanded considerably, lines were extended and three new lines were built between 1997 and 2006 in the southeastern sector. A new extension to Maipú was inaugurated in 2011, at which point the metropolitan railway had a total length of 105 km. In the case of bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es, the system underwent a major reform in the early 1990s. In 2007 the master plan known as Transantiago
Red Metropolitana de Movilidad (English: ''Metropolitan Mobility Network''; named Transantiago until March 2019) is a public transport system that serves Santiago, the capital of Chile. It is considered the most ambitious transport reform undertak ...
was established. It has faced a number of problems since its launch.
Entering the twenty-first century, rapid development continued in Santiago. The Civic District was renewed with the creation of the Plaza de la Ciudadanía
Plaza de la Ciudadanía (, ''Citizenry Square'') is a public square located in the southern façade of the Palacio de La Moneda (Chile's presidential palace) in Santiago. It used to be part of the grass garden and parking area of the Palace.
Co ...
and construction of the Ciudad Parque Bicentenario
Ciudad () is the Spanish word for City
Ciudad may also refer to:
*La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona
*La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico
*''La ciudad'', novel by Mario Levrero 1970
*La Ciudad ''The City'' ...
to commemorate the bicentenary __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
*French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
of the Republic. The development of tall buildings continues in the eastern sector, which culminated in the opening of the skyscrapers
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...
Titanium La Portada
Titanium La Portada is an office building in Santiago, Chile. Located in the capital's high-end financial district of El Golf, it is the second tallest skyscraper in the country. Construction began in January 2007, and was completed in January 201 ...
and Gran Torre Santiago
The Costanera Center Torre 2, better known as Gran Torre Santiago (Great Santiago Tower), and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the second tallest in Latin America (behind Mexico's T.Op Torre ...
in the Costanera Center complex. However, socioeconomic inequality and geosocial fragmentation remain two of the most important problems in both the city and the country.
On 27 February 2010, a strong earthquake struck the capital, causing some damage to older buildings. However, some modern buildings were also rendered uninhabitable, generating much debate about the actual implementation of mandatory earthquake standards in the modern architecture of Santiago.
Geography
The city lies in the center of the ''Santiago Basin'', a large bowl-shaped valley consisting of broad and fertile lands surrounded by mountains. The city has a varying elevation, gradually increasing from in the western areas to more than in the eastern areas. Santiago's international airport, in the west, lies at an altitude of . Plaza Baquedano
Plaza Baquedano, commonly known as Plaza Italia, is a major landmark in Santiago, Chile.
The plaza was inaugurated in 1928, being crowned by a monument made by Chilean sculptor Virgínio Arias and featuring General Manuel Baquedano, giving the ...
, near the center, lies at . Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo
Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo is a football stadium, in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. It is used mostly for home matches stadium of the Chilean top club CD Universidad Católica which also owns the stadium. The ...
, at the eastern edge of the city, has an elevation of .
The Santiago Basin is part of the Intermediate Depression
The Central Valley ( es, Valle Central), Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in ...
and is remarkably flat, interrupted only by a few "island hills;" among them are Cerro Renca
Cerro Renca ''(Spanish for:Renca Hill)'' is a hill straddling the border between Quilicura to the north and Renca to the south, in the city of Santiago, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of ...
, Cerro Blanco
Cerro Blanco is a hill and historical landmark in the city of Santiago, Chile. This geographic feature
rises above the surrounding terrain and covers a surface area of . It is bordered by Recoleta Avenue on the east, Santos Dumont Avenue on ...
, and Cerro Santa Lucía
Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain".
Toponyms
;Bolivia:
* Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia
;Brazil:
* Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul
*Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...
. The basin is approximately in a north–south direction and from east to west. The Mapocho River
The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two.
Course
The Mapo ...
flows through the city.
The city is flanked by the main chain of the Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
to the east and the Chilean Coastal Range
The Chilean Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa) is a mountain range that runs from north to south along the Pacific coast of South America parallel to the Andean Mountains, extending from Morro de Arica in the north to Taitao Peninsula, ...
to the west. On the north, it is bordered by the ''Cordón de Chacabuco'', a mountain range of the Andes. At the southern border lies the ''Angostura de Paine'', an elongated spur of the Andes that almost reaches the coast.
The mountain range immediately bordering the city on the east is known as the Sierra de Ramón, which was formed due to tectonic activity of the San Ramón Fault. This range reaches 3296 meters at Cerro de Ramón
Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain".
Toponyms
;Bolivia:
* Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia
;Brazil:
* Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul
* Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a munici ...
. The Sierra de Ramón represents the " Precordillera" of the Andes. further east is the even larger Cordillera of the Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, which has mountains and volcanoes that exceed and on which some glaciers are present. The tallest is the Tupungato
Tupungato, one of the highest mountains in the Americas, is a massive Andean lava dome dating to Pleistocene times. It lies on the border between the Chilean Metropolitan Region (near a major international highway about east of Santiago) and t ...
mountain at . Other mountains include Tupungatito
Volcán Tupungatito is the northernmost historically active stratovolcano of the southern Andes. Part of the Chilean Andes' volcanic segment, it is the northernmost member of the Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ), which is one of several distinct vol ...
, San José, and Maipo. Cerro El Plomo
Cerro El Plomo is a mountain in the Andes near Santiago, Chile. With an elevation of 5,434 m (17,783 ft), it is the largest peak visible from Santiago on clear days. The adequate season to climb this mountain is between November and March. ...
is the highest mountain visible from Santiago's urban area.
During recent decades, urban growth has outgrown the boundaries of the city, expanding to the east up the slopes of the Andean Precordillera. In areas such as La Dehesa, Lo Curro, and El Arrayan, urban development is present at over 1,000 meters of altitude.
The natural vegetation of Santiago is made up of a thorny woodland of '' Vachellia caven'' (also known as ''Acacia caven'' and espinillo) and ''Prosopis chilensis
''Prosopis chilensis'' is a species of tree in the genus ''Prosopis'', belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is found in parts of central Chile, southern Peru, Bolivia, and Andean (northwestern) Argentina. Its common names include Chilean mesqui ...
'' in the west and an association of ''Vachellia caven'' and Baccharis paniculata
''Baccharis'' is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family (Asteraceae). They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are n ...
in the east around the Andean foothills.
File:La Parva, centro de esquí (2011D2021A).jpg, Ski Center La Parva
File:2019-04-06-12h10m43.jpg, Santiago Metropolitan Park
File:Santiago en invierno.jpg, Santiago in the winter
File:Santiago de Chile.jpg, Santiago in the summer
Climate
Santiago has a cool semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
(''BSk'' according to the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
), with Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
(''Csb'') patterns: warm dry summers (October to March) with temperatures reaching up to on the hottest days; winters (April to September) are cool and humid, with cool to cold mornings; typical daily maximum temperatures of , and low temperatures near . In climate station of Quinta Normal (near downtown) the precipitation average is 341.8 mm, and in climate station of Tobalaba (in higher grounds near the Andes mountains) the precipitation average is 367.8 mm.
In the airport area of Pudahuel, mean rainfall is per year, about 80% of which occurs during the winter months (May to September), varying between of rainfall during these months. That amount contrasts with a very sunny season during the summer months between December and March, when rainfall does not exceed on average, caused by an anticyclonic dominance continued for about seven or eight months. There is significant variation within the city, with rainfall at the lower-elevation Pudahuel site near the airport being about 20 percent lower than at the older Quinta Normal site near the city center.
Santiago's rainfall is highly variable and heavily influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
cycle, with rainy years coinciding with El Niño events and dry years with La Niña events.[Rutllant, Josè and Fuenzalida, Humberto; "Synoptic Aspects of the Central Chile Rainfall Variability Associated with the Southern Oscillation," ''International Journal of Climatology'', vol. 11 (1991), pp. 63–76] The wettest year since records began in 1866 was 1900 with [ Paskoff, Roland P.; "Geomorphological Processes and Characteristic Landforms in the Mediterranean Regions of the World," ''Mediterranean Type Ecosystems''; in ''Ecological Studies'', Volume 7, 1973, pp. 53–60] – part of a "pluvial" from 1898 to 1905 that saw an average of over eight years incorporating the second wettest year in 1899 with – and the driest 1924 with . Typically there are lengthy dry spells even in the rainiest of winters, intercepted with similarly lengthy periods of heavy rainfall. For instance, in 1987, the fourth wettest year on record with , there was only in the 36 days between 3 June and 8 July, followed by in the 38 days between 9 July and 15 August.
Precipitation is usually only rain, as snowfall only occurs in the Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
and Precordillera, being rare in eastern districts, and extremely rare in most of the city.[ In winter, the snow line is about , and it ranges from .][''René Garreaud-Salazar']
"Impacto en la variabilidad de la línea de nieve en crecidas invernales en cuencas pluvio-nivales de Chile central"
. Sociedad Chilena de Ingeniería Hidráulica, XI Congreso Chileno. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
The city is affected only occasionally by snowfall. The period between 2000 and 2017 has been registered 9 snowfalls and only two have been measured in the central sector (2007 and 2017). The amount of snow registered in Santiago on 15 July 2017 ranged between 3.0 cm in Quinta Normal
Quinta Normal is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is named after a large park in the area.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Quinta Normal spans a ...
and 10.0 cm in La Reina
La Reina ( Spanish: "The Queen") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region created in 1963 from an eastern portion of the Ñuñoa commune. It belongs to the Northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile.
La Re ...
(Tobalaba).
Temperatures vary throughout the year from an average of in January to in June and July. In the summer days are very warm to hot, often reaching over and a record high close to , while nights are very pleasant and cool, at . During autumn and winter the temperature drops, and is slightly lower than . The temperature may even drop to , especially during the morning. The historic low of was in July 1976.[
Santiago's location within a watershed is one of the most important factors determining the climate of the city. The coastal mountain range serves as a screen that stops the spread of maritime influence, contributing to the increase in annual and daily thermal oscillation (the difference between the maximum and minimum daily temperatures can reach 14 °C) and maintaining low relative humidity, close to an annual average of 70%. It also prevents the entry of air masses, with the exception of some coastal low clouds that penetrate to the basin through the river valleys.
Prevailing winds are from the southwest, with an average of , especially during the summer; the winter is less windy.
]
Natural disasters
Due to Santiago's location on the Pacific Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...
at the boundary of the Nazca
Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in ...
and South American plates, it experiences a significant amount of tectonic activity.[Buchenau, Jürgen, and Lyman L. Johnson. ''Aftershocks: Earthquakes and Popular Politics in Latin America''. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico, 2009. Print.] The first earthquake on record to strike Santiago occurred in 1575, 34 years after the official founding of Santiago. The 1647 Santiago earthquake
The 1647 Santiago earthquake struck Santiago, Chile on the night of 13 May (22:30 local time, 02:30 UTC on 14 May) and is said to have brought virtually every building in the city to the ground. The earthquake was felt throughout the so-called ...
devastated the city, and inspired Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...
's novel, ''The Earthquake In Chile''.
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and the 1985 Algarrobo earthquake both caused damage in Santiago, and led to the development of strict building codes with a view to minimizing future earthquake damage. In 2010 Chile was struck by the 2010 Chile earthquake, sixth largest earthquake ever recorded, reaching 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale. 525 people died, of whom 13 were in Santiago, and the damage was estimated at 15–30 billion US dollars. 370,000 homes were damaged, but the building codes implemented after the earlier earthquakes meant that despite the size of the earthquake, damage was far less than that caused a few weeks earlier by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, in which at least 100,000 people died. Large megathrust earthquakes aside, smaller local faults in an around Santiago pose significant earthquake risks. Two faults in particular, San Ramón Fault, San Ramón and El Arrayán Fault, El Arrayan, in the east and north of Santiago respectively have been singled out as being particularly dangerous.[
The easternmost neighborhoods of the city lies in a zone prone to landslides. Landslides of the debris flow type in particular are a significant hazard.
]
Environmental issues
Santiago's air is the most polluted air in Chile. In the 1990s air pollution fell by about one-third, but there has been little progress since 2000. A study by a Chilean university found in 2010 that pollution in Santiago had doubled since 2002. Particulate matter air pollution is a serious public health concern in Santiago, with atmospheric concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 regularly exceeding standards established by the US Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.
A final major source of Santiago air pollution, one that continues year-round, is the smelter of the El Teniente copper mine. The government does not usually report it as being a local pollution source, as it is just outside the reporting area of the Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...
, being from downtown.
During winter months, thermal inversion (a meteorological phenomenon whereby a stable layer of warm air holds down colder air close to the ground) causes high levels of smog and air pollution to be trapped and concentrated within the Central Valley.
As of March 2007, only 61% of the wastewater in Santiago was treated, which increased up to 71% by the end of the same year. However, in March 2012, the Mapocho Wastewater Treatment Plant began operations, increasing the wastewater treatment capacity of the city to 100%, making Santiago the first capital city in Latin America to treat all of its municipal sewage.
Free-ranging urban dog, Stray dogs are common in Santiago. However, rabies is practically non-existent in Chile.
Demographics
According to data collected in the 2002 census by the National Institute of Statistics, the Santiago metropolitan area population reached 5,428,590 inhabitants, equivalent to 35.9% of the national total and 89.6% of total regional inhabitants. This figure reflects broad growth in the population of the city during the 20th century: it had 383,587 inhabitants in 1907; 1,010,102 in 1940; 2,009,118 in 1960; 3,899,619 in 1982; and 4,729,118 in 1992.[Se consideran en total las comunas de la Santiago Province, Chile, Provincia de Santiago, más Padre Hurtado, Pirque, ]Puente Alto Puente, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Spanish language, may refer to:
People
* Puente (surname)
Places
*La Puente, California, USA
* Puente Alto, city and commune of Chile
*Puente de Ixtla, city in Mexico
*Puente Genil, village in the Spanish provi ...
y San Bernardo (Chile), San Bernardo. Estas cifras no son equivalentes a la de la ciudad de Santiago pues excluyen ciertas áreas fuera de dichas comunas e incluyen algunas zonas rurales; sin embargo, representa a un 95,4% de la población total del área metropolitana. (percentage of total population, 2007)
The growth of Santiago has undergone several changes over the course of its history. In its early years, the city had a rate of growth 2.9% annually until the 17th century, then down to less than 2% per year until the early 20th century figures. During the 20th century, Santiago experienced a demographic explosion as it absorbed migration from mining camps in northern Chile during the economic crisis of the 1930s. The population surged again via migration from rural sectors between 1940 and 1960. This migration was coupled with high fertility rates, and annual growth reached 4.9% between 1952 and 1960. Growth has declined, reaching 1.4% in the early 2000s. The size of the city expanded constantly; The 20,000 hectares Santiago covered in 1960 doubled by 1980, reaching 64,140 hectares in 2002. The population density in Santiago is 8,464 inhabitants/km2.
The population of Santiago[ has seen a steady increase in recent years. In 1990 the total population under 20 years was 38.0% and 8.9% were over 60. Estimates in 2007 show that 32.9% of men and 30.7% of women were less than 20 years old, while 10.2% of men and 13.4% of women were over 60 years. For the year 2020, it is estimated that the figures will be 26.7% and 16.8%.
4,313,719 people in Chile say they were born in one of the communes of the ]Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...
,[ which, according to the 2002 census, amounts to 28.5% of the national total. 67.6% of the inhabitants of Santiago claim to have been born in one of the communes of the metropolitan area. In communes such as Santiago Centro and Independencia, Chile, Independencia, according to 2017 census, 1/3 of residents is a Latin American immigrant (28% and 31% of the population of these communes, respectively).][Canal 13 (Chile), Canal 13]
Censo 2017: 28% de habitantes en la comuna de Santiago son inmigrantes
. Published: 2018-5-5. Other communes of Greater Santiago with high numbers of immigrants are Estación Central (17%) and Recoleta, Chile, Recoleta (16%).[Estas son las comunas de Chile con mayor porcentaje de población extranjera](_blank)
. ''24 Horas Chile''. Published 2018-5-5.
Economy
Santiago is the industrial and financial center of Chile, and generates 45% of the country's GDP. Some international institutions, such as ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), have their offices in Santiago. The strong economy and low government debt is attracting migrants from Europe and the United States.
Santiago's steady economic growth over the past few decades has transformed it into a modern metropolis. The city is now home to a growing theater and restaurant scene, extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping centers, and a rising skyline, including the second tallest building in Latin America, the Gran Torre Santiago
The Costanera Center Torre 2, better known as Gran Torre Santiago (Great Santiago Tower), and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the second tallest in Latin America (behind Mexico's T.Op Torre ...
. It includes several major universities, and has developed a modern transportation infrastructure, including a free flow toll-based, partly underground urban freeway system and the Metro de Santiago, South America's most extensive subway system.
Santiago is an Economic inequality, economically divided city (Gini coefficient of 0.47). The western half (''zona poniente'') of the city is, on average, much poorer than the eastern communes, where the high-standard public and private facilities are concentrated.
Commercial development
The Costanera Center, a mega project in Santiago's Financial District, includes a mall, a tower, two office towers of each, and a hotel tall. In January 2009 the retailer in charge, Cencosud, said in a statement that the construction of the mega-mall would gradually be reduced until financial uncertainty is cleared. In January 2010, Cencosud announced the restart of the project, and this was taken generally as a symbol of the country's success over the Financial crisis of 2007–2010, global financial crisis. Close to Costanera Center another skyscraper is already in use, Titanium La Portada
Titanium La Portada is an office building in Santiago, Chile. Located in the capital's high-end financial district of El Golf, it is the second tallest skyscraper in the country. Construction began in January 2007, and was completed in January 201 ...
, tall. Although these are the two biggest projects, there are many other office buildings under construction in Santiago, as well as hundreds of high rise residential buildings. In February 2011, Gran Torre Santiago
The Costanera Center Torre 2, better known as Gran Torre Santiago (Great Santiago Tower), and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the second tallest in Latin America (behind Mexico's T.Op Torre ...
, part of the Costanera Center project, located in the called Sanhattan district, reached the 300-meter mark, officially becoming the tallest structure in Latin America.
Commerce
Santiago is Chile's retail capital. S.A.C.I. Falabella, Falabella, Paris, Johnson, Ripley S.A., Ripley, La Polar, and several other department stores dot the mall landscape of Chile. The east side neighborhoods like Vitacura
Vitacura is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily high income families. It belongs to the Northeastern zone o ...
, La Dehesa, and Las Condes are home to Santiago's Alonso de Cordova street, and malls like Parque Arauco, Alto Las Condes, Mallplaza, Mall Plaza (a chain of malls present in Chile and other Latin American countries) and Costanera Center are known for their luxurious shopping. Alonso de Cordova, Santiago's equivalent to Rodeo Drive or Rua Oscar Freire in São Paulo, has exclusive stores like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Emporio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna, Swarovski, MaxMara, Longchamp, and others. Alonso de Cordova also houses some of Santiago's most famous restaurants, art galleries, wine showrooms and furniture stores. The Costanera Center has stores like Armani Exchange, Banana Republic, Façonnable, Hugo Boss, Swarovski, and Zara (retailer), Zara. There are plans for a Saks Fifth Avenue in Santiago. Several mercados in the city such as the Mercado Central de Santiago sell local goods. Barrio Bellavista and Barrio Lastarria have some of the most exclusive night clubs, chic cafés and restaurants.
Transport
Air
Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (IATA: SCL) is Santiago's national and international airport and the principal airline hub, hub of LATAM Chile, LATAM Airlines, Sky Airline, Aerocardal and JetSmart. The airport is located in the western commune of Pudahuel. The largest airport in Chile, it is ranked sixth in passenger traffic among Latin American airports, with 14,168,282 passengers served in 2012 – a 17% increase over 2011. It is located 15 km from the city center.
Peldehue airport in Colina began operations on December 13, 2021. It will be able to service up to 25 flights per hour.
Santiago is also served by Eulogio Sánchez Airport (ICAO: SCTB), a small, privately owned general aviation airport in the commune of La Reina
La Reina ( Spanish: "The Queen") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region created in 1963 from an eastern portion of the Ñuñoa commune. It belongs to the Northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile.
La Re ...
.
Rail
Trains operated by Chile's national railway company, Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), connect Santiago to several cities in the south-central part of the country: Rancagua, San Fernando, Chile, San Fernando, Talca (connected to the coastal city of Constitución, Chile, Constitución by a different train service), Linares, Chile, Linares and Chillán. All such trains arrive and depart from the Estación Central railway station (Central Station), which can be accessed by bus or subway. The proposed Santiago–Valparaíso railway line would connect Santiago with Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
in 45 minutes, and expansions of the commuter rail network to Melitrén, Melipilla and Santiago-Batuco commuter rail, Batuco are under discussion.
Inter-urban buses
Bus companies provide passenger transportation from Santiago to most areas of the country as well as to foreign destinations, while some also provide parcel shipping and delivery services.
There are several bus terminals in Santiago:
* Terminal San Borja: located in Metro station "Estación Central metro station, Estación Central." Provides buses to all destinations in Chile and to some towns around Santiago.
* Terminal Alameda: located in Metro station "Universidad de Santiago." Provides buses to all destinations in Chile.
* Terminal Santiago: located one block west of Terminal Alameda. Provides buses to all destinations in Chile as well as to destinations in most countries in South America, except Bolivia.
* Terrapuerto Los Héroes: located two blocks east of Metro station "Los Héroes." Provides buses to south of Chile and some northern cities, as well as Argentina (Mendoza and Buenos Aires) and Paraguay (Asunción).
* Terminal Pajaritos: located in Metro station "Pajaritos." Provides buses to the international airport, inter-regional services to Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
, Viña del Mar and several other coastal cities and towns.
* Terminal La Cisterna: located in Metro station "La Cisterna." Provides buses to towns around southern Santiago, Viña del Mar, Temuco and Puerto Montt.
* Terminal La Paz: located about two blocks away from the fresh fruit and vegetables market "Vega Central;" the closest Metro station is "Puente Cal y Canto." It connects the rural areas north of Santiago.
Highways
A network of free flow toll highways connects the various areas of the city. They include the Vespucio Norte and Vespucio Sur highways, which surround the city completing a nearly full circle; Autopista Central, the section of the Pan American highway crossing the city from north to south, divided in two highways apart; and the Costanera Norte, running next to the Mapocho River and connecting the international airport with the downtown and with the wealthier areas of the city to the east, where it divides into two highways.
Other non-free flow toll roads connecting Santiago to other cities, include: Rutas del Pacífico (Chile Route 68, Ruta 68), the continuation of the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, ''Alameda'' Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue to the west, provides direct access to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar; Autopista del Sol (Ruta 78), connects Melipilla and the port of San Antonio, Chile, San Antonio with the capital; Autopista Ruta del Maipo (a.k.a. "Acceso Sur") is an alternative to the Pan American highway to access the various localities south of Santiago; Autopista Los Libertadores provides access to the main border crossing to Argentina, via Colina and Los Andes, Chile, Los Andes; and Autopista Nororiente, which provides access to the suburban development known as Chicureo, north of the capital.
Public transport
Santiago has 37% of Chile's vehicles, with a total of 991,838 vehicles, 979,346 of which are motorized. An extensive network of streets and avenues stretching across Santiago facilitate travel between the different communities that make up the metropolitan area.
In the 1990s the government attempted to reorganize the public transport system. New routes were introduced in 1994 and the buses were painted yellow. The system, however, had serious issues with routes overlapping, high levels of air and noise pollution, and safety problems for both riders and drivers. To tackle these issues a new transport system, called Transantiago
Red Metropolitana de Movilidad (English: ''Metropolitan Mobility Network''; named Transantiago until March 2019) is a public transport system that serves Santiago, the capital of Chile. It is considered the most ambitious transport reform undertak ...
, was devised. The system was launched in earnest on 10 February 2007, combining core services across the city with the subway and with local feeder routes, under a unified system of payment through a Contactless smart card, contactless smartcard called "Tarjeta bip!" The change was not well received by users, who complained of lack of buses, too many bus-to-bus transfers, and diminished coverage. Some of these problems were resolved, but the system earned a bad reputation which it has not been able to shake off. , the fare evasion rate is stubbornly high.
In 2019, the government introduced the new public transport system named Red Metropolitana de Movilidad, RED.
In recent years many cycle paths have been constructed, but so far the number is limited and with little connections between the routes. Most cyclists ride on the street, and the use of helmets and lights is not widespread, even though it is mandatory.
Metro
Santiago Metro
The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by th ...
has six operating lines (1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5 and 6), extending over and connecting 118 stations. The system carries around 2,400,000 passengers per day. Two underground lines (Line 4 and 4A) and an extension of Line 2 were inaugurated in 2005 and 2006, while an extension of Line 5 was inaugurated in 2011. Line 6 was inaugurated in 2017, adding 10 stations to the network and approximately of track. Line 3 opened on January 22, 2019, with 18 new stations
Commuter rail
EFE provides suburban rail service under the brandname of Metrotren. There are 2 southbound routes. The most popular is the Metrotren Nos service, between the Central Station of Santiago and Nos station, in San Bernardo. This line, inaugurated in 2017, serves 8 million people per year, with 12 trains serving 10 stations with a frequency of 6 minutes during rush hours, and 12 during the rest of the time. The other route is the Metrotren Rancagua service, between the Central Station of Santiago and the Rancagua station, connecting Santiago with the regional capital of O'Higgins.
Bus
![Transantiago bus articulado](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Transantiago_bus_articulado.jpg)
Transantiago
Red Metropolitana de Movilidad (English: ''Metropolitan Mobility Network''; named Transantiago until March 2019) is a public transport system that serves Santiago, the capital of Chile. It is considered the most ambitious transport reform undertak ...
is the name for the city's public transport system. It works by combining local (feeder) bus lines and main bus lines, as well for the EFE commuter trains and the Metro network. It includes an integrated fare system, which allows passengers to make bus-to-bus, bus-to-metro or bus-to-train transfers for the price of one ticket, using a contactless smartcard (bip!). This system also offers reduced fares for the elderly, as well as high school and university students.
Vehicles for hire
Taxicabs are common in Santiago and are painted black with yellow roofs and have orange license plates. So-called ''radiotaxis'' may be called up by telephone and can be any make, model, or color but should always have the orange plates. ''Colectivos'' are shared taxicabs that carry passengers along a specific route for a fixed fee.
Cabify, Uber and DiDi also operate in Santiago.
Public transportation statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Santiago - to and from work, for example - on a weekday is 84 min. 23% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 15 min, while 21% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 7.4 km, while 15% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
Internal transport
As of 2006, Santiago was home to 992,000 vehicles, 979,000 of which were motorized. This made up 37.3% of Chile's total vehicle count. 805,000 cars passed through the city, which is 37.6% of the national total or one car for every seven people.
The main road is the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, better known as Alameda Avenue, which runs northeast and southwest. From north to south, it is crossed by Autopista Central and the Independencia Avenue (Santiago de Chile), Independencia, Gran Avenida José Miguel Carrera, Gran Avenida, Avenida Recoleta, Recoleta, Avenida Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa, Vicuña Mackenna Avenue, Vicuña Mackenna and Tobalaba Avenida, Tobalaba avenues. Other major roads include the Avenida Los Pajaritos to the west and Providencia Avenue and Apoquindo Avenue to the east. Finally, the Américo Vespucio Avenue
Américo Vespucio Avenue is a
ring road in Santiago, Chile named after Renaissance cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Two adjacent sections of the avenue are occupied by Vespucio Norte Express and Vespucio Sur free-flow tolling highways, which are ...
acts as a ring road.
During the 2000s, several urban highways were built through Santiago in order to improve the situation for vehicles. The road General Velásquez and sections of the Pan-American Highway in Santiago were converted into the Autopista Central, while Américo Vespucio became variously the highways Vespucio Norte Express and Vespucio Sur, as well as Vespucio Oriente in the future. Following the edge of the Mapocho River, Costanera Norte was built to link the northeast of the capital to the airport and the downtown area. All these highways, totaling 210 km in length, have a free flow toll system.
Administrative divisions
Greater Santiago lacks a metropolitan government for its administration, which is distributed between authorities, complicating the operation of the city as a single entity. The highest authorities in Santiago are considered to be the governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...
, who is popularly elected to the office, now held by Claudio Orrego, and the regional presidential delegate of Santiago Metropolitan Region, an official appointed by the president of Chile, post currently occupied by Constanza Martínez.
The conurbation of Greater Santiago does not fit perfectly into any administrative division, as it extends into four different Provinces of Chile, provinces and 35 Communes of Chile, communes plus 11 Satellite city, satellite communes which together make the Santiago Metropolitan Area. The majority of its (as of 2002) lie within Santiago Province, with some peripheral areas contained in the provinces of Cordillera Province, Chile, Cordillera, Maipo Province, Maipo, and Talagante Province, Talagante.
Although there is no official consensus in this regard, the communes of the city are usually grouped into seven sectors: North zone of Santiago de Chile, north, Santiago (commune), center, Northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile, northeast, Southeastern zone of Santiago de Chile, southeast, South zone of Santiago de Chile, south, Northwestern zone of Santiago de Chile, southeast and Southwestern zone of Santiago de Chile, southwest.
Note: Communes in the peripheries are not shown to their full extent.
Culture
Only a few historical buildings from the Spanish colonial period remain in the city, because – like the rest of the country – Santiago is regularly hit by earthquakes. Extant buildings include the Casa Colorada (1769), the San Francisco Church, Santiago de Chile, San Francisco Church (1586), and Posada del Corregidor (1750).
The cathedral on the central square (Plaza de Armas
The ''Plaza de Armas'' (literally Weapons Square, but better translated as Parade Square or parade ground) is the name for Latin American main squares. In the central region of Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo and in Central America as ...
) is a sight that ranks as high as the Palacio de La Moneda, the Presidential Palace. The original building was built between 1784 and 1805, and architect Joaquín Toesca was in charge of its construction. Other buildings surrounding the Plaza de Armas are the Central Post Office Building (Santiago), Central Post Office Building, which was finished in 1882, and the Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, built between 1804 and 1807. It houses the Chilean National History Museum, with 12,000 objects that can be exhibited. On the southeast corner of the square stands the green cast-iron Commercial Edwards building, which was built in 1893. East of that is the colonial building of the Casa Colorada (1769), which houses the Museum of Santiago. Close by is the Municipal Theatre of Santiago, which was built in 1857 by the French architect Brunet of Edward Baines. It was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1906. Not far from the theater is the Subercaseaux Mansion and the National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
, one of the largest libraries of South America.
The Former National Congress Building, the Palacio de los Tribunales de Justicia de Santiago, Justice Palace, and the Royal Customs Palace (''Palacio de la Real Aduana de Santiago'') are located close to each other. The latter houses the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Museum of pre-Columbian art. A fire destroyed the building of the Congress in 1895, which was then rebuilt in a neoclassical style and reopened in 1901. The Congress was deposed under the military dictatorship (1973–89) of Augusto Pinochet, and after the dictatorship was newly constituted on 11 March 1990, in Valparaíso.
The building of the Justice Palace (Palacio de Tribunales) is located on the south side of the Montt Square. It was designed by the architect Emilio Doyére and built between 1907 and 1926. The building is home to the Supreme Court of Chile. The panel of 21 judges is the highest judicial power in Chile. The building is also the headquarters of the Court of Appeals of Santiago.
Bandera street leads toward the building of the Santiago Stock Exchange (the ''Bolsa de Comercio''), completed in 1917, the Club de la Unión (Chile), Club de la Unión (opened in 1925), the Universidad de Chile (1872), and toward the oldest churchhouse in the city, the San Francisco Church (constructed between 1586 and 1628), with its Marian statue of the ''Virgen del Socorro'' ("Our Lady of Help"), which was brought to Chile by Pedro de Valdivia. North of the ''Plaza de Armas'' ("Square of Arms," where the colonial militia was mustered) are the Paseo Puente, the Santo Domingo Church, Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo Church (1771), and the Mercado Central de Santiago, Central Market (Mercado Central), an ornamental iron building. Also in downtown Santiago is the Torre Entel
Torre Entel (Entel Tower) is the name of a high TV and telecommunications tower in Santiago, Chile. Torre Entel has an observation deck open for visitors. Construction began in 1970 during Eduardo Frei Montalva term as president and it was ina ...
, a 127.4-meter-high television tower with observation deck completed in 1974; the tower serves as a communication center for the communications company, ENTEL Chile.
The Costanera Center was completed in 2009, and includes housing, shopping, and entertainment venues. The project, with a total area of 600,000 square meters, includes the 300-meter high Gran Torre Santiago
The Costanera Center Torre 2, better known as Gran Torre Santiago (Great Santiago Tower), and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile, the second tallest in Latin America (behind Mexico's T.Op Torre ...
(South America's tallest building) and other commercial buildings. The four office towers are served by highway and subway connections.
File:Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile.JPG, Municipal Theatre of Santiago
File:Palacio de La Moneda.png, Palacio de La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secre ...
File:Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Santiago2.jpg, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Santiago, Chile), Contemporary Art Museum of Santiago
File:Bellasartes.jpg, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, Fine Arts Museum
File:BibliotecaNacionaldeChile.JPG, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
File:Excongreso.jpg, Former Congress Building
Heritage and monuments
Within the metropolitan area of Santiago, there are 174 National Monuments of Chile, heritage sites in the custody of the National Monuments Council, among which are archeological, architectural and historical monuments, neighborhoods and typical areas. Of these, 93 are located within the commune of Santiago, considered the historic center of the city. Although no santiaguino monument has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco three have already been proposed by the Chilean government: the Incan sanctuary of Cerro El Plomo, El Plomo, San Francisco Church, Santiago de Chile, the church and convent of San Francisco and the palace of La Moneda.
In the center of Santiago are several buildings built during the Spanish domination and that mostly correspond to, as the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral, Metropolitan Cathedral and the aforementioned church of San Francisco Catholic churches. Buildings of the period are those located on the sides of Plaza de Armas
The ''Plaza de Armas'' (literally Weapons Square, but better translated as Parade Square or parade ground) is the name for Latin American main squares. In the central region of Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo and in Central America as ...
, as the seat of Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, Real Audiencia, the Central Post Office Building (Santiago), Post Office or the Casa Colorada.
During the nineteenth century and the advent of independence, new architectural works began to be erected in the capital of the young republic. The aristocracy built small palaces for residential use, mainly around the neighborhood Republica and preserved until today. To this other structures adopted artistic trends from Europe, as the Club Hípico de Santiago, Equestrian Club of Santiago, the head offices of the University of Chile
The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843. and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Catholic University, Estación Central (railway station), Central Station and the Mapocho Station, Mercado Central de Santiago, Mercado Central, join the National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
, Museum of Fine Arts and the Barrio París-Londres, among others.
Various green areas in the city contain within and around various sites of heritage character. Among the most important are the fortifications of Santa Lucía Hill, Santa Lucia hill, the Sanctuary on San Cristóbal Hill, shrine of the Virgin Mary on the summit of San Cristóbal Hill, San Cristobal hill, the lavish crypt of the General Cemetery, Parque Forestal
Parque Forestal is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park was created on reclaimed land from the Mapocho River
The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Ch ...
, the O'Higgins Park and the Quinta Normal Park.
Cultural activities and entertainment
In Santiago's major theater companies are located, hosting several national and international projects, with the highest expression during the International Theatre Festival known as Santiago a Mil International Theater Festival, Santiago a Mil, which takes place every January since 1994 and has gathered more than one million spectators. Also is the Planetarium at the University of Santiago de Chile.
To carry out various cultural, artistic and musical events, there are several precincts within which highlight the Estación Mapocho, Mapocho Cultural Center, Centro Cultural Matucana 100, 100 Matucana Cultural Center, the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral, Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, Centro Cultural Palacio de La Moneda, the Movistar Arena and the Teatro Caupolicán, Caupolican Theater. On the other hand, the opera and ballet performances are permanently accepted by the Municipal Theatre of Santiago, located in the heart of the city and which has a capacity of 1500 spectators.
There are 18 cinemas in the capital with a total of 144 rooms and over 32,000 seats, the projection centers than 5 arthouse add.
For children and teenagers, there are several entertainment venues, such as amusement park Fantasilandia, the Chilean National Zoo, National Zoo or the Buin Zoo on the outskirts of the city. The Barrio Bellavista, Bellavista, Barrio Brasil, Brasil, Barrio Manuel Montt, Manuel Montt, Plaza Ñuñoa and Barrio Suecia, Suecia account for most of the nightclubs, restaurants and bars in the city, the main evening entertainment centers in the capital. In order to promote the economic development of other regions, the law prohibits the construction of a casino in the metropolitan region, but nearby are the casino from the coastal city of Vina del Mar, 120 km from distance from Santiago, and Monticello Grand Casino in Mostazal, 56 kilometers south of Santiago, which opened in 2008.
Museums and libraries
Santiago has a wealth of museums of different kinds, among which are three of 'National' class administered by the Directorate of Libraries, Archives and Museums (DIBAM): the National History Museum (Santiago, Chile), National History Museum, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...
.
Most of the museums are located in the historic city center, occupying the old buildings of colonial origin, such as with the National History Museum, which is located in the Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, Palacio de la Real Audiencia. La Casa Colorada houses the Museum of Santiago, while the Colonial Museum is housed in a wing of the San Francisco Church, Santiago de Chile, Church of San Francisco and the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Museum of Pre-Columbian Art occupies part of the old Palacio de la Real Aduana de Santiago, Palacio de la Aduana. The Museum of Fine Arts, though it is located in the city center, was built in the early twentieth century, especially for housing the museum and in the back of the building was laid in 1947, the Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, under the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile.
The Quinta Normal Park also has several museums, among which are the already mentioned of Natural History, Artequin Museum, the Museum of Science and Technology, Santiago, Museum of Science and Technology and the Museo Ferroviario. In other parts of the city there are some museums such as the Museo Nacional Aeronáutico y del Espacio, Aeronautical Museum in Cerrillos, Tajamares del Mapocho, Museum of Tajamares in Providence and the Museo Interactivo Mirador in La Granja. The latter opened in 2000 and designed mainly for children and youth has been visited by more than 2.8 million visitors, making it the busiest museum in the country.
The most important public library is the National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
located in downtown Santiago. Its origins date back to 1813, when it was created by the nascent Republic and was moved to its current premises a century later, also home to the headquarters of the National Archives of Chile, National Archives. In order to provide more closeness to the population, incorporating new technologies and complement the services provided by public libraries and the National Library was opened in 2005 the Library of Santiago at Barrio Matucana.
Music
Santiago has two symphony orchestras:
* ''Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago'' ("Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra"), which performs in the ''Teatro Municipal'' (Municipal Theatre of Santiago)
* ''Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile'' ("Chile Symphony Orchestra"), part of the Universidad de Chile, performs in its theater.
There are a number of jazz establishments, some of them, including "El Perseguidor," "Thelonious," and "Le Fournil Jazz Club," are located in Bellavista, one of Santiago's "hippest" neighborhoods, though "Club de Jazz de Santiago," the oldest and most traditional one, is in Ñuñoa. Annual festivals featured in Santiago include Lollapalooza and the Maquinaria festival.
Newspapers
The most widely circulated newspapers in Chile are published by ''El Mercurio'' and ''Copesa'' and have earned more than the 91% of revenues generated in printed advertizing in Chile.
Some newspapers available in Santiago are:
* ''El Mercurio''
* ''La Tercera''
* ''La Cuarta''
* ''Las Últimas Noticias''
* ''La Segunda''
* ''The Clinic (newspaper), The Clinic''
* ''The Santiago Times''
Media
Santiago is home to the major Chilean television networks including the public broadcaster Televisión Nacional de Chile, TVN and the privately held Canal 13 (Chilean TV channel), Canal 13, Chilevisión, La Red (Chilean TV channel), La Red and Mega (Chilean TV channel), Mega. In addition, the radio stations ADN Radio Chile, Radio Agricultura, Radio Concierto, Radio Cooperativa (Chile), Radio Cooperativa, Radio Pudahuel and Rock & Pop (Chilean radio), Radio Rock & Pop are located in the city.
Sports
Santiago is home to some of Chile's most successful football clubs. Colo-Colo, founded on 19 April 1925, has a long tradition, and has played continuously in the highest league since the establishment of the first Chilean league in 1933. The club's wins include 30 Primera División de Chile, national titles, 10 Copa Chile successes, and champions of the Copa Libertadores tournament in 1991, the only Chilean team to have won this tournament. The club hosts its home games in the Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Estadio Monumental in the commune of Macul.
Club Universidad de Chile, Universidad de Chile has 18 national titles and 5 Copa Chile wins. In 2011 they were champions of Copa Sudamericana, the only Chilean team to have won this tournament. The club was founded on 24 May 1927, under the name Club Deportivo Universitario as a union of Club Náutico and Federación Universitaria. The founders were students of the University of Chile
The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843. . In 1980, the organization separated from the University of Chile and the club is now completely independent. The team plays its home games in the Estadio Nacional de Chile in the commune of Ñuñoa.
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica (UC) was founded on 21 April 1937. It consists of fourteen different departments. This team plays its home games in Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo. Universidad Católica has 13 national titles, making it the third most successful football club in the country. It has played the Copa Libertadores more than 20 times, reaching the final in 1993, losing to São Paulo FC.
Several other football clubs are based in Santiago, including Unión Española, Audax Italiano, Club Deportivo Palestino, Palestino, Santiago Morning, Deportes Magallanes, Magallanes and A.C. Barnechea, Barnechea. In addition to football, several sports are played in the city, tennis and basketball being the main ones. The Club Hípico de Santiago
Club Hípico de Santiago is a thoroughbred horse race track in Santiago, Chile.
History
The Club Hípico de Santiago, opened in 1870, is Chile's oldest racetrack and home to South America's oldest stakes race, the Clásico El Ensayo. It is one ...
and the Hipódromo Chile are the two Race track, horseracing tracks in the city.
Santiago hosted the final stages of the official 1959 Basketball World Cup, where Chile national basketball team, Chile won the bronze medal.
The city held a round of the all-electric FIA Formula E, FIA Formula E Championship on 3 February 2018, on a temporary street circuit incorporating the Plaza Baquedano and Parque Forestal. It was the first Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA sanctioned race in the country.
The 2023 Pan American Games
The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...
will be held in Santiago.
Recreation
There is an extensive network of bicycle trails in the city, especially in the Providencia commune. The longest section is the Americo Vespuccio road, which contains a very wide dirt path with many trees through the center of a street used by motorists on both sides. The next longest path is along the Mapocho River along Andrés Bello Avenue. Many people use folding bicycles to commute to work.
The city's main parks are:
* Cerro San Cristóbal – Cerro San Cristóbal, San Cristóbal Hill, which includes the Chilean National Zoo
* ''Parque O'Higgins'' – Parque O'Higgins, Chile, O'Higgins Park
* ''Parque Forestal'' – Parque Forestal, Chile, Forestal Park, park located at the city center alongside Mapocho river
* Cerro Santa Lucía
Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain".
Toponyms
;Bolivia:
* Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia
;Brazil:
* Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul
*Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...
– Santa Lucía Hill
* Parque Araucano in Las Condes adjacent to the Parque Arauco shopping mall contains 30 hectares of gardens. It is closed for maintenance on Mondays.
* Parque Inés de Suarez, Providencia
* Parque Padre Hurtado (a.k.a. Parque Intercomunal)
There are ski resorts to the east of the city (Valle Nevado, La Parva, El Colorado) and wineries in the plains west of the city.
Cultural venues include:
* Museo de Bellas Artes (Santiago), Museo de Bellas Artes – Fine Arts Museum
*Museo Violeta Parra, an art museum dedicated to Chilean folk artist Violeta Parra [opened in 2015]
* Barrio Bellavista, cultural and bohemian neighborhood
* Estación Central railway station, Central Station, railway station designed by Gustave Eiffel
* Estadio Víctor Jara, Chile, Víctor Jara Stadium
* Ex Congreso Nacional, Ex National Congress
* Plaza de Armas
The ''Plaza de Armas'' (literally Weapons Square, but better translated as Parade Square or parade ground) is the name for Latin American main squares. In the central region of Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo and in Central America as ...
, central square
* Palacio de La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secre ...
, government palace
* Teatro Municipal (Municipal Theatre of Santiago), the principal opera house of the country. The main sport venues are Estadio Nacional de Chile, Estadio Nacional (site of the 1962 FIFA World Cup, 1962 World Cup final), Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Estadio Santa Laura, and Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo
Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo is a football stadium, in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. It is used mostly for home matches stadium of the Chilean top club CD Universidad Católica which also owns the stadium. The ...
.
Religion
As in most of Chile, the majority of the population of Santiago is Catholic Church, Catholic. According to the National Census, carried out in 2002 by the National Statistics Bureau (National Statistics Institute (Chile), INE), in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, 3,129,249 people 15 and older identified themselves as Catholics, equivalent to 68.7% of the total population, while 595,173 (13.1%) described themselves as Evangelicals, Evangelical Protestants. Around 1.2% of the population declared themselves as being Jehovah's Witnesses, while 2.0% identified themselves as Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 0.3% as Judaism, Jewish, 0.1% as Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox and 0.1% as Muslim. Approximately 10.4% of the population of the Metropolitan Region stated that they were Atheism, atheist or Agnosticism, agnostic, while 5.4% declared that they followed other religions.
In 2010 construction was initiated on the Santiago Bahá'í Temple, serving as the Baháʼí House of Worship for South America, in the commune of Peñalolen. Construction at the site was completed and the temple was dedicated in October 2016.
Education
The city is home to numerous universities, colleges, research institutions, and libraries.
The largest university and one of the oldest in the Americas is Universidad de Chile. The roots of the university date back to the year 1622, as on 19 August the first university in Chile under the name of Santo Tomás de Aquino was founded. On 28 July 1738, it was named the Real Universidad de Philip the Apostle, San Felipe in honor of King Philip V of Spain. In the vernacular, it is also known as Casa de Bello (Spanish: House of Bello – after their first Rector, Andrés Bello). On 17 April 1839, after Chile's independence from the Kingdom of Spain, it was renamed the Universidad de Chile, and reopened on 17 September 1843.
The Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) was founded in June 1888 and was ranked as the best school in Latin America in 2014. On 11 February 1930 it was declared a university by a decree of Pope Pius XI. It received recognition by the Chilean government as an appointed Pontifical University in 1931. Joaquín Larraín Gandarillas (1822–1897), Archbishop of Anazarba, was the founder and first rector of the PUC. The PUC is a modern university; the campus of San Joaquin has a number of contemporary buildings and offers many parks and sports facilities. Several courses are conducted in English. Ex-president, Sebastián Piñera, minister Ricardo Raineri, and minister Hernán de Solminihac all attended PUC as students and worked in PUC as professors. In the 2010 admission process, approximately 48% of the students who achieved the best score in the Prueba de Selección Universitaria matriculated in the UC.
Higher education
Traditional
* Universidad de Chile (university), Universidad de Chile (U or UCH)
* Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC)
* Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH)
* Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE)
* Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana (UTEM)
* Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM)
Non-traditional
* Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI)
* Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD)
* Universidad Diego Portales (UDP)
* Universidad Alberto Hurtado (UAH)
* Universidad Central de Chile (Ucen)
* Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello (Unab)
* Academy of Christian Humanism University, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano (UAHC)
* Universidad Mayor (UM)
* Universidad Finis Terrae
* University of the Andes, Chile, Universidad de Los Andes
* Universidad Gabriela Mistral (UGM)
* University of the Pacific (Chile), Universidad del Pacífico
* Universidad de las Américas (Chile), Universidad de las Américas
* Universidad de Artes, Ciencias y Comunicación (UNIACC)
* Universidad San Sebastián (USS)
* Universidad Bolivariana
Other
* Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg's ''Postgraduierten- und Weiterbildungszentrum der Universität Heidelberg'' i
Santiago
* David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) Regional Office i
Santiago
* Stanford Faculty i
Santiago
* Diplomatic Academy of Chile
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
Santiago is Sister city, twinned with:
* Beijing, China
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Guangzhou, China
* Kyiv, Ukraine
* London, England, United Kingdom
* Madrid, Spain
* Miami, United States
* Minneapolis, United States
* Riga, Latvia
* São Paulo, Brasil
* Tangier, Morocco
Cooperation and friendship
* Paris, France
* Tunis, Tunisia
Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities
Santiago is part of the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities from 12 October 1982.
Gallery
File:Sculptures at the Pre-Columbian Art Museum in Santiago, Chile.jpg, Chemamull statues at Precolumbian Art Museum of Santiago
File:Club de la Unión.jpg, Club de La Unión
File:Bolsa de Comercio de Santiago.jpg, Façade of the Santiago Stock Exchange
File:Fachada Basilica del Salvador.jpg, Basílica del Salvador
File:PaseoBulnes.jpg, Paseo Bulnes, downtown Santiago
File:Paseo Ahumada 2009.jpg, Paseo Ahumada
Paseo Ahumada is four-block-long street in downtown Santiago. It extends in a north–south direction from Plaza de Armas to the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins and is lined by buildings housing retail establishments at their lower ...
, downtown Santiago
File:Alameda - Santiago de Chile.jpg, Entel Tower
File:Santiago (15130325641).jpg, A street in Santiago
See also
*
References
Bibliography
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Santiago, Chile,
Capitals in South America
Populated places established in 1541
1541 establishments in the Captaincy General of Chile
Capitals of Chilean regions