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Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the
capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...
and largest city of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and one of the
largest cities in the Americas This is a list of the 50 largest cities in the Americas by population residing city proper, within city limits based on the most recent official census results, estimates, or short-term projections available for all of these cities, which refer to ...
. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the
Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region () 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. Most commercial and administrative centers are loc ...
, which has a population of seven million, representing 40% of Chile's total population. Most of the city is situated between
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. 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 having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...
, Santiago has served as the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city features a downtown core characterized by 19th-century neoclassical architecture and winding side streets with a mix of
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
,
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
, and other styles. Santiago's cityscape is defined by several standalone hills and the fast-flowing
Mapocho River The River 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 Mapocho begins at the ...
, which is lined by parks such as
Parque Bicentenario The Bicentenario Park (Spanish: , literally "Bicentennial Park"), is one of the largest parks of the city of Santiago, Chile. The park was designed by the Chilean architect Teodoro Fernández after winning the official design competition in 1998 ...
,
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 and is located in the historical downtown of Santiago, west of Plaza Baquedano and east of Estación Mapocho Estaci ...
, and
Parque de la Familia Parque de la Familia ("Family Park", previously known as ''Parque Fluvial Padre Renato Poblete'' (Father Renato Poblete River Park); also known as the "Navigable Mapocho") is a public park located in the commune of Quinta Normal in Santiago, Chi ...
. The
Andes Mountains The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
are visible from most parts of the city and contribute to a
smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...
problem, particularly during winter due to the lack of rain. The outskirts of the city are surrounded by vineyards, and Santiago is within an hour's drive of both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santiago is the political and financial center of Chile and hosts the regional headquarters of many
multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...
s and
organizations An organization or organisation ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution (formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a par ...
. The Chilean government's executive and judiciary branches are based in Santiago, while the Congress mostly meets in nearby
Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
.


Etymology

The name ''Santiago'' was chosen by the Spanish conqueror
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 having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...
when he founded the city in 1541 as "Santiago del Nuevo Extremo," in reference to his home region of
Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...
and as a tribute to
James the Great James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...
, the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The saint's name appears in various forms in Spanish, such as
Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...
,
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, or
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, with the latter derived from the Galician evolution of
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Colloquial, Popular, Spoken or Vernacular Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. ''Vulgar Latin'' a ...
''Sanctu Iacobu''. Allegedly, there was no indigenous name for the area where Santiago is located, but the
Mapuche language Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the sm ...
uses the adapted name ''Santiaw''. In Chile, several entities share the name ''Santiago'', which can often lead to confusion. The commune of Santiago, also referred to as ''Santiago Centro'', is an
administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
encompassing the area occupied by the city during colonial times. It is governed by the Municipality of Santiago and led by a mayor. This commune is part of Santiago Province, which is headed by a provincial delegate appointed by the President of the Republic, and it is also part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, governed by a popularly elected governor. When the term ''Santiago'' is used without further clarification, it typically refers to ''Gran Santiago'' (Greater Santiago), the
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
characterized by continuous urban development. This area includes the commune of Santiago and over 40 other communes, encompassing much of Santiago Province and parts of neighboring provinces. The definition of the metropolitan area has evolved over time as the city has expanded, incorporating smaller cities and rural areas. Residents of the city and region are referred to as ''santiaguinos'' (for males) and ''santiaguinas'' (for females).


History


Prehistory

Archaeological evidence suggests that the first human groups arrived in the Santiago basin around the 10th millennium BC. These groups were primarily nomadic hunter-gatherers, traveling from the coast to the interior to hunt guanacos during the Andean snowmelt. By around 800 AD, the first permanent settlers established agricultural communities along the
Mapocho River The River 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 Mapocho begins at the ...
, where they cultivated crops such as
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
,
potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...
, and
beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...
, and domesticated camelids. The villages of 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 Itat ...
people (as they were known to Chileans) or the Promaucae (as referred to by the Incas) were under Inca rule from the late 15th century to the early 16th century. The Incas established a settlement of mitimas in the valley, located in the center of present-day Santiago, with fortifications 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 Ra ...
and the El Plomo hill sanctuary. According to Chilean historian Armando de Ramón, the area served as a base for failed Inca expeditions to the south and was a junction along the
Inca Trail The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (also known as ''Camino Inca'' or ''Camino Inka'') is a hiking trail in Peru that terminates at Machu Picchu. It consists of three overlapping trails: ''Mollepata'', ''Classic'', and ''One Day''. ''Mollepata'' is ...
.


Founding of the city

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 having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...
, a conquistador from
Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...
sent by
Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...
from
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, arrived in the Mapocho valley on 13 December 1540, after a long journey from
Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...
. Valdivia and his party camped by the river on the slopes of the Tupahue hill and gradually began interacting with the Picunche people who lived in the area. Valdivia later called a meeting with the local chiefs, during which he explained his plan to establish a city on behalf of
Charles I of Spain Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
. The city would serve as 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, ...
. On 12 February 1541, Valdivia officially founded the city of ''Santiago del Nuevo Extremo'' (''Santiago of New Extremadura'') in honor of the Apostle James, the patron saint of Spain. The city was established near Huelén, which Valdivia renamed Santa Lucía. He assigned the city's layout 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 '' ...
, who designed a
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
. At its center, Gamboa placed a Plaza Mayor, which became the town's central hub. Surrounding the plaza, plots were designated for the
cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
, the jail, and the governor's house. The city was divided into eight blocks from north to south and ten blocks from east to west, between the Mapocho River and the ''Cañada'' with each quarter-block, or ''solar'', granted to settlers. The
colonial architecture Colonial architecture is a hybrid architectural style that arose as colonists combined architectural styles from their country of origin with design characteristics of the settled country. Colonists frequently built houses and buildings in a sty ...
following the grid plan consisted of one or two-story houses, adobe walls, tile roofs, and rooms around interior corridors and
patios A patio (, ; ) is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia, the term is expanded to include roofed structures such as a veranda, which provides protection from sun an ...
. Valdivia left for the south with his troops months later, initiating the
Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...
. Santiago was left vulnerable, and a coalition of Mapuche and Picunche tribes led by chief
Michimalonco Michima Lonco ( – ) (''lonco'' meaning "head" or "chief" in Mapudungun language, Mapudungun) was a Mapuche chief who ruled as an independent sovereign over the territory of the Aconcagua, Mapocho and Maipo valleys. He freed the Picunche (norther ...
destroyed the city on 11 September 1541, despite the efforts of a Spanish garrison of 55 soldiers defending the fort. The defense was led by Spanish
conquistadora Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
Inés de Suárez Ines, and variants, is a feminine given name related to Agnes. Used alone it may refer to: *Saint Ines (Agnes of Rome; c. 291 – c. 304), virgin–martyr, saint * Ines (''Eda-Ines Etti''; born 1981), Estonian singer As a first name *Inés Albe ...
. When she realized they were being overpowered, she ordered the execution of all indigenous prisoners, displaying their heads on pikes and throwing some towards the attackers. In response to this brutal act, the indigenous forces dispersed in fear. The city was gradually rebuilt, with the newly established city of Concepción gaining political prominence as the Royal Audiencia of Chile was established there in 1565. However, the ongoing threat of the Arauco War and frequent earthquakes delayed the establishment of the Royal Court in Santiago until 1607, which solidified the city's status as the capital. During the early years of the city, the Spanish suffered from severe shortages of food and other supplies. The Picunches had adopted a strategy of halting cultivation and retreating to more remote locations, which isolated the Spanish and forced them to resort to eating whatever they could find. The shortage of clothing meant that some Spanish had 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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...
.


Colonial Santiago

Although Santiago was facing the threat of permanent destruction early on, due to attacks from indigenous peoples, earthquakes, and floods, the city began to grow rapidly. Out of the 126 blocks designed by Pedro de Gamboa in 1558, 40 were occupied. In 1580, the first major buildings in the city started to be erected, marked by the placement of the foundation stone of the first Cathedral in 1561 and the building of the church of San Francisco in 1572. Both of these structures were primarily made of adobe and stone. In addition to the construction of significant buildings, the city began to thrive as the surrounding areas welcomed tens of thousands of livestock. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the growth of the city was hindered by a series of disasters including an
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
, a
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 (W ...
epidemic in 1575, the Mapocho River floods in 1590, 1608, and 1618, and a devastating
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
on 13 May 1647 which resulted in the death of over 600 people and affected over 5,000 others. Despite these setbacks, the capital of the
Captaincy General of Chile The General Captaincy of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ), Governorate of Chile, or Kingdom of Chile, was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818 that was, initially, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It comprised most of mod ...
continued to grow, with all the power of the country being centered on the
Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...
in Santiago. In 1767, the corregidor Luis Manuel de Zañartu launched one of the most significant architectural projects of the colonial period, the Calicanto Bridge, connecting the city to La Chimba on the north side of the Mapocho River. He also began constructing embankments to prevent river overflows. Although the bridge was completed, its piers were frequently damaged by the river. In 1780, Governor Agustín de Jáuregui 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 Baroq ...
, who designed several important buildings, including the cathedral's façade, 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 Se ...
, the San Carlos Canal, and the completion 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 f ...
. These works were officially opened in 1798. The O'Higgins government also opened the road to
Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
in 1791, connecting the capital with the country's main port. File:Schmidtmeyer, Peter & Scharf, G - The Cañada, Santiago -JCB Library f1 (cropped).jpg, The colonial La Cañada neighborhood in Santiago de Chile, in 1821, by Scharf and Schmidtmeyer.
John Carter Brown Library The John Carter Brown Library is an independently funded research library of history and the humanities on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The library's rare book, manuscript, and map collections encompass a variety of ...
. File:Schmidtmeyer, Peter & Scharf, G - Scenes at a Fair -JCB Library f1.2.jpg, Scenes at a fair in Santiago de Chile, in 1821, by Scharf and Schmidtmeyer.
John Carter Brown Library The John Carter Brown Library is an independently funded research library of history and the humanities on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The library's rare book, manuscript, and map collections encompass a variety of ...
., alt=Scenes at a fair in Santiago de Chile, in 1821, by Scharf and Schmidtmeyer. John Carter Brown Library.: 320, 348 File:Schmidtmeyer- Paroissien, James & Scharf, G - The Mint of Santiago -JCB Library f1.3.jpg, The colonial Real Casa de la Moneda (now called Palacio de la Moneda) in 1824 (by Paroissien, Scharf and Rowney & Forster).
John Carter Brown Library The John Carter Brown Library is an independently funded research library of history and the humanities on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The library's rare book, manuscript, and map collections encompass a variety of ...
. File:Plaza o great Square of Santiago with diffent national costumes (cropped2).jpg, olonial''Plaza o great Square of Santiago with different local costumes'', in 1826, by John Miers.
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
. File:Plaza de Armas de Santiago de Chile en 1850.jpg, olonialSquare in Downtown Santiago, in 1850, by the French-born Ernest Charton. File:Plaza de la Independencia de Santiago in 1854 by Claude Gray.jpg, Colonial Plaza de Armas de Santiago in 1854 by
Claude Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (18 March 1800 – 29 November 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and ge ...
. In the foreground you can see the still intact Palace of the Real Audiencia of Chile, and in the background the unfinished
Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
, both built by the Italian Joaquin Toesca. File:Santiago plaza independencia selleny expedic novara 1859.jpg, Colonial Plaza de Armas de Santiago in 1859 by Joseph Selleny aboard the Novara expedition, to the left, the (beginning to be modified) Palace of the Real Audiencia of Chile, and to the right, the colonial Portal de Sierra Bella. File:Portal of Sierra Bella in the Plaza de Armas de Santiago de Chile in 1860 by Eugéne Maunoury.jpg, Portal de Sierra Bella and gardens of the Plaza de Armas in 1860. The colonial imprint was maintained until well into the 19th century, this commercial portal faithfully reflects the appearance of colonial Santiago. Photograph by Eugéne Maunoury, belonging to the Bibliothèque nationale de France.


Capital of the Republic

On September 18, 1810, the First Government Junta was proclaimed in Santiago, marking the beginning of Chile’s path to independence. The city, which became the capital of the newly formed nation, faced various challenges, particularly from military actions in the vicinity. Although institutions like the Instituto Nacional and the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
were established during the
Patria Vieja Old Fatherland (, ) 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 i ...
, they were shut down after the patriots’ 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 Chilean forces led by Bernardo O’Higgins. This ...
in 1814. The royal government continued until 1817, when the
Army of the Andes The Army of the Andes () was a military force created by the United Provinces of South America, United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina) and assembled by General José de San Martín as part of his campaign to liberate Chile from the S ...
emerged victorious at the
Battle of Chacabuco The Battle of Chacabuco, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, took place on February 12, 1817. The Army of the Andes, from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and led by Captain (land), Captain–General José de San Martín, ...
and restored the patriot government in Santiago. However, independence was still uncertain. The Spanish army achieved further victories in 1818 and advanced toward Santiago, but their progress was finally halted at the
Battle of Maipú The Battle of Maipú () was fought near Santiago, Chile on 5 April 1818, between South American rebels and Spanish royalists, during the Chilean War of Independence. The Patriot rebels led by Argentine general José de San Martín effectively de ...
on April 5, 1818, on the Maipo River plains. With the end of the war,
Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 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 people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...
was accepted as Supreme Director and, like his father, undertook several important projects for the city. During the
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 in 1823. G ...
era, previously closed institutions were reopened. The General Cemetery was inaugurated, work on the San Carlos Canal was completed, and the drying riverbed in the south arm of the Mapocho River, known as La Cañada, which had been used as a landfill for some time, was transformed into an avenue now known as the Alameda de las Delicias. Two earthquakes struck the city in the 19th century: one on November 19, 1822, and another on February 20, 1835. Despite these disasters, the city continued to grow rapidly. In 1820, the population was recorded as 46,000, but by 1854, it had risen to 69,018. By 1865, the census reported 115,337 residents. This significant increase was due to suburban expansion to the south and west of the capital, as well as the growth of the bustling district of La Chimba, which resulted from the division of old properties in the area. This new peripheral development marked the end of the previous checkerboard structure that had dominated the city center.


19th century

During the Republican era, several institutions were founded, including the
University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.
, 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 Quinta Normal Park, which lies directly on the border between Quinta Normal and Santiago Centro, although the park itself is locat ...
. The latter comprised the Museum of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Technology) and the
National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) 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. With 4.4 ...
. These institutions were established primarily for educational purposes, but also served as examples of public planning during that period. In 1851, the first telegraph system connecting the capital to the Port of Valparaíso was inaugurated. During the "Liberal Republic" and the administration of Mayor
Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna (August 25, 1831 – January 25, 1886) was a Chilean writer, journalist, historian and politician. Vicuña Mackenna was of Irish and Basque descent. Biography Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was born in Santiago, the ...
, a new phase in the urban development of the capital was initiated. One of the main projects during this period was the remodeling of
Cerro Santa Lucía Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". People * Francisco Cerro (born 1988), Argentine footballer * Francisco Cerro Chaves (born 1957), Spanish prelate, theologian, and philosopher of the Catholic Church * Ian Cerro (born 1996), American ...
, which had fallen into disrepair despite its central location. In his effort to transform Santiago, Vicuña Mackenna initiated the construction of the ''Camino de Cintura'', a road surrounding the entire city. The redevelopment of
Alameda Avenue Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins (), 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 centre of the greater urban area and is long, and it ...
also took place during this time, turning it into the city's main road. Also during this era,
O'Higgins Park O'Higgins Park (, previously known as Parque Cousiño), covering approximately , is Santiago, Chile's second largest public park after Metropolitan Park. It is situated in the center of the capital city, within the Santiago Commune. Named afte ...
was established with the help of European landscapers in 1873. The public park, known for its large gardens, lakes, and carriage trails, became a landmark in Santiago. Other notable structures were also opened during this period, including the Teatro Municipal opera house and the
Club Hípico de Santiago Club Hípico de Santiago is a thoroughbred horse race track in Santiago de Chile, 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 E ...
. In addition, the 1875
International Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
was held in the Quinta Normal grounds. Santiago emerged as the central hub of the national railway system. On 14 September 1857, the first railway arrived in the city and terminated at the
Santiago Estación Central railway station Central Station (), also known as Alameda station, is a major railway station in Santiago, Chile. It serves the south of the country and is the city's primary railway hub. After the closure of Mapocho, it became the only major railway station i ...
, which was under construction at the time and officially opened in 1884. During this period, rail lines connected Santiago to Valparaíso and regions in northern and southern Chile. The streets of Santiago were also paved, and by 1875, there were 1,107 railway cars in the city, while 45,000 people used trams daily.


The centennial Santiago

As the new century began, Santiago underwent various changes due to the rapid growth of industry. Valparaíso, which had previously been the economic center of the country, gradually lost its prominence to the capital. By 1895, 75% of the national manufacturing industry was located in Santiago, while only 28% was in Valparaíso. By 1910, major banks and shops had established themselves in the central streets of Santiago, further diminishing the role of Valparaíso. The enactment of the Autonomous Municipalities Act empowered municipalities to establish various administrative divisions within the Santiago department, with the goal of enhancing local governance. In 1891, the municipalities of Maipú,
Ñuñoa Ñuñoa (; from Mapudungun ''Ñuñohue'', "place of yellow flowers") is a communes of Chile, commune located in the Northeastern zone of Santiago, northeastern sector of Santiago de Chile, Santiago, the capital of Chile. Bordered by Providencia, C ...
,
Renca Renca is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 6 May 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 created, followed by Providencia and Barrancas in 1897, and
Las Condes Las Condes is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The area is inhabited primarily by upper middle- to high-income families and is known in the Chilean collective consciousness as home to the country's e ...
in 1901. The La Victoria ''departmento'' was also divided, leading to the creation of Lo Cañas in 1891, which was then further split into La Granja and
Puente Alto Puente Alto (Spanish: "Tall Bridge") is a city and commune of Chile. It is the capital of the Cordillera Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, and is located in the south-east corner of the Greater Santiago conurbation. Puente Alto has ...
in 1892, followed by La Florida in 1899, and
La Cisterna La Cisterna (, Spanish for "the cistern") is a commune and census-designated city in Santiago Province, part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile. Founded on 30 May 1925, it is part of the urban area of Greater Santiago. Demographics ...
in 1925. The San Cristobal Hill underwent a prolonged process of development during this period. In 1903, an
astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
was established on the hill, and the following year, construction began on a statue of the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. Today, the statue is visible from various points in the city. However, the shrine was not completed until several decades later. The 1910 Chile Centennial celebrations marked the beginning of several urban development projects. The railway network was expanded, connecting the city and its growing suburbs with a new ring and route to
Cajón del Maipo Cajón del Maipo is a canyon located in the Andean southeastern portion of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. It encompasses the upper Maipo River basin, where the river has entrenched itself in a narrow valley. The zone features a series ...
. A new railway station was also built in the north of the city: the Mapocho Station. 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 and is located in the historical downtown of Santiago, west of Plaza Baquedano and east of Estación Mapocho Estaci ...
was established on the southern side of the Mapocho river, 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 library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
were opened. In addition, a sewer system was installed, serving approximately 85% of the city's population.


Population explosion

The 1920 census estimated the population of Santiago to be 507,296 inhabitants, equivalent to 13.6% of the total population of Chile. This represented a growth of 52.5% from the 1907 census, an annual increase of 3.3%, which was almost three times the national average. This growth was mainly due to an influx of farmers from the southern regions who came to work in the factories and railroads that were being built. However, this growth was concentrated in the suburbs and not downtown. During this time, the downtown district consolidated as a commercial, financial, and administrative center, with the establishment of various shops and businesses around Ahumada Street and a Civic District in the vicinity of the Palace of La Moneda. The latter project involved the construction of modernist buildings for the offices of the
ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
and other public services, as well as the start of the construction of medium-rise buildings. Meanwhile, the traditional residents of the center began to migrate to more rural areas like Providencia and Ñuñoa, which attracted the oligarchy and European immigrant professionals, and
San Miguel San Miguel, Spanish for Saint Michael, may refer to: Places Argentina *San Miguel Partido *San Miguel, Buenos Aires * San Miguel, Catamarca * San Miguel, Corrientes * San Miguel, La Rioja *San Miguel Arcángel, a Volga German colony in Adolfo Al ...
for middle-class families. Additionally, in the periphery, villas were built by various organizations of the time. Modernity also spread in the city, with the introduction of the first theaters, the expansion of the telephone network, and the opening of Los Cerrillos Airport in 1928, among other advancements. The perception that the early 20th century was a time of economic prosperity due to technological advancements was in stark contrast to the living conditions of lower social classes. The previous decades of growth resulted in an unprecedented population boom starting in 1929, but was met with tragedy as the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
hit. The collapse of the nitrate industry in the north left 60,000 people unemployed, compounded by a decline in agricultural exports, resulting in an estimated 300,000 unemployed people nationwide. Desperate for survival, many migrants flocked to Santiago and its thriving industry. However, they often found themselves struggling to find housing, with many being forced to live on the streets. The harsh living conditions resulted in widespread diseases like tuberculosis, and took a toll on the homeless population. At the same time, unemployment rates and living costs skyrocketed, while the salaries of the people in Santiago fell. The situation would change several years later with a new industrial boom fostered by
CORFO The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from ) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile. Originally, CORFO was responsible for the creation of ...
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, who previously frequented Cousiño and Alameda Park, lost their hegemony over popular entertainment venues, and 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 ...
emerged in 1938.


Greater Santiago

In the following decades, Santiago continued to grow at an unprecedented rate. In 1940, the city had a population of 952,075 residents, which increased to 1,350,409 by 1952, and reached 1,907,378 in the 1960 census. This growth was reflected in the urbanization of rural areas on the outskirts of the city, where middle and lower-class families with stable housing were established. In 1930, the urban area covered 6,500 hectares, which increased to 20,900 in 1960 and to 38,296 in 1980. Although growth was mainly concentrated in communities such as Barrancas to the west,
Conchalí Conchalí () is a commune of Chile in Santiago Province, within the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is located in the northern part of the city of Santiago. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Conc ...
to the north, and La Cisterna and La Granja to the south, the center of the city lost population, leaving more space for commercial, banking, and government development. The upper class, on the other hand, began to settle in the foothills of Las Condes and the
La Reina La Reina (Spanish: "The Queen"; distorted from Larraín) 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 Sa ...
sector. The regulation of growth in Santiago only began in the 1960s with the creation of various development plans for Greater Santiago, a concept that reflected the city's new reality as a much larger urban center. In 1958, the Intercommunal Plan of Santiago was released, which proposed a limit of 38,600 urban and semi-urban hectares for a maximum population of 3,260,000 residents. The plan also included plans for the construction of new avenues, such as 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 a ...
and Panamericana Route 5, as well as the expansion of 'industrial belts'. The 1962 World Cup provided a new impetus for city improvement efforts, and 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 on Cerro San Cristóbal. The Ministry of Housing and Urbanism ( MINVU) also began to eradicate
shantytowns A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron sh ...
and build new homes. Finally, the Edificio Diego Portales was constructed in 1972. In 1967, the new Pudahuel International Airport was opened, and after years of discussion, construction of the
Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro () 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), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...
began in 1969. The first phase of the Metro, which ran beneath the western section of Alameda, was opened in 1975 and soon became one of the most prestigious buildings in the city. Over the following years, the Metro 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 remained the tallest structure in the country for two decades. After the military coup of 1973 and the establishment of the
military regime A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a strongman, or by a council of mi ...
, significant changes in urban planning did not occur until the 1980s when the government embraced a
neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
economic model. In 1979, the master plan was revised, expanding the urban area to over 62,000 hectares for real estate development. This led to
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 ...
, particularly in La Florida, causing the city to reach 40,619 hectares in size in the early 1990s. According to the 1992 census, Santiago became the country's most populous municipality, with 328,881 residents. Tragically, a powerful
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
struck the city on 3 March 1985, causing minimal casualties but leaving many homeless and destroying numerous historic buildings.


The metropolis in the early twenty-first century

With the onset of the
transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...
in 1990, the city of Santiago surpassed four million inhabitants, with the majority residing in the south, particularly in La Florida, which was the most populous area, followed by Puente Alto and Maipú. The real estate development in these municipalities, as well as in others such as Quilicura and Peñalolén, was largely driven by the construction of housing projects for middle-class families. Meanwhile, high-income families relocated to the foothills, now commonly referred to as ''Barrio Alto'', boosting the population of Las Condes and giving rise to young communes, including
Lo Barnechea Lo Barnechea is a commune located in the northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile, northeastern sector of the province of Santiago. Its urban boundaries include Los Andes, Chile, Los Andes of the Valparaíso Region, Valparaíso region to the north, ...
and
Vitacura Vitacura is a communes of Chile, commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily h ...
, both established in 1981 and 1991, respectively. The area around
Providencia Avenue Avenida Providencia is a major thoroughfare in Santiago, Chile. It runs along the commune of Providencia. Description Providencia begins at the northern terminus of Vicuña Mackenna Avenue as a continuation of Alameda Avenue. Immediately, the ...
became an important commercial hub in the eastern sector. This development extended to the ''Barrio Alto'', which became an attractive location for the construction of high-rise buildings. Major companies and financial corporations established themselves in the area, giving rise to a thriving modern business center commonly known as ''
Sanhattan Sanhattan, a portmanteau of ''Santiago'' and ''Manhattan'', is the popular ironic sobriquet given to Santiago's upscale financial district in Chile's capital. It is located to the northeast of the metropolis, in the western end of the Las Condes ...
''. The departure of these companies to ''Barrio Alto'' and the construction of
shopping centers A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in Commonwealth English (see spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza, or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The fir ...
all around the city created a crisis in the city center. To reinvigorate the area, the government transformed the main shopping streets into pedestrian walkways, as it did in the 1970s, and offered tax benefits for the construction of residential buildings, which attracted young adults. The city faced a series of problems due to disorganized growth. During the winter months,
air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
reached critical levels and a layer of
smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...
blanketed the city. In response, the authorities implemented legislative measures to reduce industrial pollution and placed restrictions on vehicle use. To address the problem of transportation, the metro system underwent significant expansion, with lines being extended and three new lines added between 1997 and 2006 in the southeastern sector. In 2011, a new extension was inaugurated in Maipú, bringing the total length of the metropolitan railway to . In the early 1990s, the bus system also underwent a major reform. 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 underta ...
was established, although it has faced various challenges since its implementation. Entering the 21st century, rapid development continued in Santiago. The Civic District was revitalized with the creation of the Plaza de la Ciudadanía and the construction of the Ciudad Parque Bicentenario, which marked the bicentenary of the Republic. The trend of constructing tall buildings continued in the eastern sector, which was highlighted by the opening of the
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 Gran Torre Costanera, previously known as Costanera Center Torre 2, and also known as El Costanera (The Costanera) by the locals, and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile. It is the tallest buildi ...
skyscrapers in the
Costanera Center The Costanera Center is a commercial and business complex located in the commune of Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Owned by Cencosud, the complex consists of four skyscrapers, including the Gran Torre Santiago, two high-end hotels, an office bui ...
complex. On 27 February 2010, a powerful earthquake hit the capital city of Santiago, causing damage to some older buildings and rendering some modern structures uninhabitable. This sparked a heated discussion about the actual implementation of mandatory earthquake standards in the city's modern architecture. Despite urban integration efforts, socioeconomic inequality and geosocial fragmentation remain two of the most important problems, both in the city and in the country. These problems have been considered one of the factors that led to the ''" Estallido Social"'', a series of massive protests and severe riots carried out between 2019 and 2020. The protests led to a serious civil confrontation, which led to thousands of arrests and accusations of human rights violations. Meanwhile, the demonstrations registered serious episodes of violence against public and private infrastructure, mainly in the surroundings 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 th ...
, with the
Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro () 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), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...
being one of the most affected by these episodes: more than half of its stations registered damage (several being partially set on fire) and only eleven months later the network returned to full normal service.


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 An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
, 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 th ...
, near the center, lies at .
Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, also referred to as Claro Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium, in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. The stadium, located into the San Carlos de Apoquindo Sports Complex ...
, at the eastern edge of the city, has an elevation of . The Santiago Basin is part of the
Intermediate Depression The Central Valley (), 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 southern Chile, wi ...
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 western South America ...
,
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". People * Francisco Cerro (born 1988), Argentine footballer * Francisco Cerro Chaves (born 1957), Spanish prelate, theologian, and philosopher of the Catholic Church * Ian Cerro (born 1996), American ...
. The basin is approximately in a north–south direction and from east to west. The
Mapocho River The River 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 Mapocho begins at the ...
flows through the city. The city is flanked by the main chain of the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
to the east and the
Chilean Coastal Range The Chilean Coastal Range () 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, where it ends at the Chi ...
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 Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" or "mountain chain" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieve ...
, which was formed due to tectonic activity of the San Ramón Fault. This range reaches 3296 meters at Cerro de Ramón. The Sierra de Ramón represents the "
Precordillera Precordillera is a Spanish geographical term for hills and mountains lying before a greater range, similar to foothills. The term is derived from ''cordillera'' (mountain range)—literally "pre-mountain range"—and applied usually to the Andes. ...
" of the Andes. further east is the even larger Cordillera of the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
, 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 Andes, Andean lava dome dating to Pleistocene times. It lies on the Argentina–Chile border, between the Chilean Metropolitan Region (near a major international highway about ...
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 vo ...
, San José, and Maipo. Cerro El Plomo 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 Precordillera is a Spanish geographical term for hills and mountains lying before a greater range, similar to foothills. The term is derived from ''cordillera'' (mountain range)—literally "pre-mountain range"—and applied usually to the Andes. ...
. 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'' in the west and an association of ''Vachellia caven'' and Baccharis paniculata 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 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 ...
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 se ...
(''BSk'' according to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
), 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
(''Csb'') patterns, while the eastern areas, being closer to the mountain range, have a true Mediterranean climate (Csb): warm dry summers (October to March) with temperatures reaching up to on the hottest days; winters (April to September) are cool 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 286.3 mm, and in climate station of Quebrada de Macul between the communes of
Peñalolén Peñalolén (Mapudungun "fraternal meeting place") is a Chilean commune in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 15 November 1984. History The commune was founded on 15 November 1984. In 2019, Chilean police arreste ...
and La Florida (in higher grounds near the Andes mountains) the precipitation average is 438 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: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...
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 Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
and
Precordillera Precordillera is a Spanish geographical term for hills and mountains lying before a greater range, similar to foothills. The term is derived from ''cordillera'' (mountain range)—literally "pre-mountain range"—and applied usually to the Andes. ...
, being rare in eastern districts, and extremely rare in the central and western districts of the city. In winter, the
snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...
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 Quinta Normal Park, which lies directly on the border between Quinta Normal and Santiago Centro, although the park itself is locat ...
and 10.0 cm in
La Reina La Reina (Spanish: "The Queen"; distorted from Larraín) 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 Sa ...
(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

Santiago is located 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 tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...
, where two tectonic plates, the
Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...
and
South American Plate The South American plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid ...
s, collide. This results in a high frequency of earthquakes.Buchenau, Jürgen, and Lyman L. Johnson. ''Aftershocks: Earthquakes and Popular Politics in Latin America''. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico, 2009. Print. The first recorded earthquake to hit Santiago was in
1575 Year 1575 ( MDLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 21 – Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a monopoly on producing printed sheet music, to Thomas Tallis and Will ...
, just 34 years after its founding. The most devastating earthquake in the city's history took place in
1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong County, Xichong by a Qing archer, after having been betrayed by one of his officer ...
, inspiring the novel '' The Earthquake In Chile'' by
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 ''The Prince of Homburg'', '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'' ...
. In response to the destructive earthquakes of 1960 (Valdivia) and 1985 (Algarrobo), Santiago implemented strict building codes to minimize damage from future earthquakes. In 2010, Chile was hit by the sixth largest recorded
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
with a magnitude of 8.8 on the
moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...
. The earthquake caused the death of 525 people, 13 of whom were in Santiago, and resulted in an estimated cost of 15–30 billion US dollars. Although many homes were damaged, the stricter building codes prevented the scale of destruction seen in the
Haiti earthquake Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in structur ...
of the same year, in which over 100,000 people lost their lives. While large earthquakes pose a threat, smaller earthquakes from local faults in and around Santiago are also a significant risk. In particular, the San Ramón and
El Arrayán EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...
faults in the east and north of the city are considered to be particularly dangerous. The eastern neighborhoods of Santiago are also susceptible to landslides, especially of the
debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented Rock (geology), rock flow down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. ...
type, which pose a significant hazard to the area.


Environmental issues

Santiago has a serious
air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
problem. Despite a decrease in air pollution in the 1990s, the level of pollution has not significantly improved since 2000. In fact, a study conducted by a Chilean university in 2010 showed that the pollution levels in Santiago had doubled since 2002. Particulate matter air pollution, specifically PM2.5 and PM10, frequently exceeds the standards set by the
US Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
and the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
, posing a significant threat to public health. One of the major sources of air pollution in Santiago is the
El Teniente División El Teniente ("The Lieutenant") is an underground copper mine located in the Chilean Andes, above mean sea level. It is in the commune of Machalí in Cachapoal Province, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, near the com ...
copper mine smelter, which operates year-round. The government typically does not classify it as a local pollution source, as it is located just outside the reporting area of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, 110 kilometers from downtown.During the winter months,
thermal inversion In meteorology, an inversion (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inver ...
can trap and concentrate smog and air pollution in the Central Valley. Santiago has made progress in treating its wastewater, with the Mapocho Wastewater Treatment Plant starting operations in March 2012. This increased the city's wastewater treatment capacity to 100%, making Santiago the first capital city in Latin America to treat all of its municipal sewage. Stray dogs are a common sight in Santiago, but the country as a whole has a low incidence of rabies.


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 Provincia de Santiago, más
Padre Hurtado Padre Hurtado () is a Chilean commune located in the Talagante Province of the Metropolitan Region. It is part of the Greater Santiago conurbation and is one of its outermost communes. The commune is named in honor of Saint Alberto Hurtado, ...
,
Pirque Pirque () is a commune of Chile in Cordillera Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region; it is located 2.8 kilometers southeast of Puente Alto and 21.3 kilometers south-southeast of the center of Santiago. It is situated at the base of the Cajón ...
,
Puente Alto Puente Alto (Spanish: "Tall Bridge") is a city and commune of Chile. It is the capital of the Cordillera Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, and is located in the south-east corner of the Greater Santiago conurbation. Puente Alto has ...
y 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 () 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. Most commercial and administrative centers are loc ...
, 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 The Commune of Santiago is the central commune of the Santiago Province, located at the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile's Central Zone. Locally, Santiago is usually abbreviated ''Stgo.'' It is also called as "Santiago Centro ...
and 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
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 Estación Central ((), Spanish for "central station") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is named after the Estación Central railway station, which is located within the commune. Demographi ...
(17%) and Recoleta (16%).Estas son las comunas de Chile con mayor porcentaje de población extranjera
. ''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 Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
. Some international institutions, such as
ECLAC The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC, ECLAC or ''CEPAL'', in Spanish: ''Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe'') is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooper ...
(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 Gran Torre Costanera, previously known as Costanera Center Torre 2, and also known as El Costanera (The Costanera) by the locals, and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile. It is the tallest buildi ...
. It includes several major universities, and has developed a modern transportation infrastructure, including a
free flow Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...
toll-based, partly underground urban freeway system and the
Metro de Santiago The Santiago Metro () 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), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...
, South America's most extensive subway system. Santiago is an economically divided city (
Gini coefficient In economics, the Gini coefficient ( ), also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio, is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income distribution, income inequality, the wealth distribution, wealth inequality, or the ...
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 The Costanera Center is a commercial and business complex located in the commune of Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Owned by Cencosud, the complex consists of four skyscrapers, including the Gran Torre Santiago, two high-end hotels, an office bui ...
, 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 Cencosud S.A. is a publicly traded retail company based in Chile. It is the largest retail company in Chile and the third largest listed retail company in Latin America, competing with the Brazilian Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição and the ...
, 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 despite the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. 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 Gran Torre Costanera, previously known as Costanera Center Torre 2, and also known as El Costanera (The Costanera) by the locals, and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile. It is the tallest buildi ...
, part of the
Costanera Center The Costanera Center is a commercial and business complex located in the commune of Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Owned by Cencosud, the complex consists of four skyscrapers, including the Gran Torre Santiago, two high-end hotels, an office bui ...
project, located in the called
Sanhattan Sanhattan, a portmanteau of ''Santiago'' and ''Manhattan'', is the popular ironic sobriquet given to Santiago's upscale financial district in Chile's capital. It is located to the northeast of the metropolis, in the western end of the Las Condes ...
district, reached the 300-meter mark, officially becoming the tallest structure in
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.


Commerce

Santiago is Chile's retail capital.
Falabella The Falabella is an Argentine list of horse breeds, breed of small horse. It is among the smallest of horse breeds, with a height at the withers in the range .. History The horses of South America descend from Andalusian horse, Andalusian and ...
, Paris, Johnson, Ripley,
La Polar La Polar is the fourth largest retail company in Chile, behind Falabella, Paris S.A and Ripley S.A. The company has 43 stores, being 38 in Chile and 5 in Colombia and offers various products, such as clothing, accessories, sporting goods, bea ...
, and several other department stores dot the mall landscape of Chile. The east side neighborhoods like
Vitacura Vitacura is a communes of Chile, commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily h ...
,
La Dehesa La Dehesa is a suburban neighborhood in Lo Barnechea Commune of Santiago, Chile. It borders Las Condes to the south and Vitacura to the west. It is located in a valley near the Andes, northeast of the city, north of the Mapocho River. La Dehesa ...
, and
Las Condes Las Condes is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The area is inhabited primarily by upper middle- to high-income families and is known in the Chilean collective consciousness as home to the country's e ...
are home to Santiago's Alonso de Cordova street, and malls like
Parque Arauco Parque Arauco is the third largest Chilean shopping malls company, after Cencosud's malls division and Mall Plaza the S.A.C.I. Falabella shopping malls subsidiary. It is headquartered in Santiago. The company manages shopping malls in Chile, Pe ...
, Alto Las Condes,
Mall Plaza Mall plaza may mean: * A plaza or public square in a pedestrian mall or shopping mall * Various shopping malls with “Mall Plaza” in the name *Mallplaza Mallplaza S.A. is a Chilean chain of Shopping mall, malls operated in South America by S. ...
(a chain of malls present in Chile and other Latin American countries) and
Costanera Center The Costanera Center is a commercial and business complex located in the commune of Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Owned by Cencosud, the complex consists of four skyscrapers, including the Gran Torre Santiago, two high-end hotels, an office bui ...
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 Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...
,
Hermès Hermès International S.A. ( , ) is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, silk goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Since the ...
,
Emporio Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...
,
Salvatore Ferragamo Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930 ...
, Ermenegildo Zegna,
Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, which primarily produces crystal glas ...
, 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 Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...
,
Banana Republic In political science, the term ''banana republic'' describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resource.A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, where th ...
, Façonnable,
Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG (stylized in all caps) is a designer fashion company headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, Fashion accessory, accessories, footwear, and Leather, leather goods. Hugo Boss is one of the ...
,
Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, which primarily produces crystal glas ...
, and
Zara Zara may refer to: Businesses * Zara (retailer), a fashion retail company based in Spain * Zara Investment Holding, a Jordanian holding company * Continental Hotel Zara, Budapest, Hungary People and fictional characters * Zara (name), primari ...
. There are plans for a Saks Fifth Avenue in Santiago. Several mercados in the city such as the
Mercado Central de Santiago The Mercado Central de Santiago is the central market of Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is loca ...
sell local goods. Barrio Bellavista and Barrio Lastarria have some of the most exclusive night clubs, chic cafés and restaurants.


Transportation


Air

Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport , also known as Santiago International Airport and Nuevo Pudahuel Airport, located in Pudahuel, north-west of central Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility and busiest international ai ...
(
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
: SCL) is Santiago's national and international airport and the principal hub of
LATAM Airlines LATAM Airlines Chile, formerly known as LAN Chile and LAN Airlines, is a Chilean multinational airline based in Santiago and one of the founding companies of the LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline holding company in Latin America. Its ...
,
Sky Airline Sky Airline, styled as SꓘY, is an airline based at Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. It is the second largest airline in the country behind flag-carrier LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate under a lo ...
, Aerocardal and
JetSmart JetSMART Airlines SpA, stylized as JetSMART, is a Chilean ultra low-cost carrier controlled by US investment fund Indigo Partners, which also controls low-cost carriers like Frontier Airlines, Mexico, Mexico's Volaris and Hungary, Hungary's Wizz ...
. The airport is located in the western commune of
Pudahuel Pudahuel (, Mapudungun "place of pools/water" or "place where seagulls gather") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport is located in 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 from the city center. Peldehue airport in Colina began operations on 13 December 2021. It will be able to service up to 25 flights each hour. Santiago is also served by
Eulogio Sánchez Airport Eulogio Sánchez Airport () , also known as Tobalaba Airport, is an airport in La Reina, an eastern suburb of Santiago, Chile. It is two-thirds owned by the ''Club Aéreo de Santiago'' and one-third owned by the ''Club Aéreo de Carabineros de Ch ...
(ICAO: SCTB), a small, privately owned general aviation airport in the commune of
La Reina La Reina (Spanish: "The Queen"; distorted from Larraín) 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 Sa ...
.


Rail

Trains operated by Chile's national railway company,
Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (abbreviated EFE, lit. ''State Railway Company'') is the national railway and the oldest state-run enterprise in Chile. It manages the infrastructure and operating rail services in the country. Track gauge ...
(EFE), connect Santiago to several cities in the south-central part of the country:
Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sa ...
,
San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
,
Talca Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an important ...
(connected to the coastal city of Constitución by a different train service), Linares and
Chillán Chillán () is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Ñuble Region, Diguillín Province, Chile, located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the center of the country. It has been the capital of the new Ñuble Region since ...
. All such trains arrive and depart from the
Estación Central railway station Central Station (), also known as Alameda station, is a major railway station in Santiago, Chile. It serves the south of the country and is the city's primary railway hub. After the closure of Mapocho, it became the only major railway station i ...
(Central Station), which can be accessed by bus or subway. The proposed
Santiago–Valparaíso railway line The Santiago–Valparaíso railway is a railway line linking the Chilean capital city Santiago with the port city of Valparaíso. History The existing rail line between Santiago and Valparaíso was opened in 1863, and is long, single-track and ...
would connect Santiago with
Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
in 45 minutes, and expansions of the commuter rail network to
Melipilla Melipilla (Mapudungun for "four Pillans") is a Chilean Communes of Chile, commune and Capital (political), capital List of cities in Chile, city of the Melipilla Province, province of the same name. It is part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region ...
and 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 Estación Central metro station. Provides buses to all destinations in Chile and to some towns around Santiago. * Terminal Alameda: located in Universidad de Santiago metro station. 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 Los Héroes metro station. 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 Pajaritos metro station. Provides buses to the
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
, inter-regional services to
Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
,
Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...
and several other coastal cities and towns. * Terminal La Cisterna: located in
La Cisterna metro station La Cisterna is a station on the Santiago Metro in Santiago, Chile. It is an interchange between lines 2 and 4A, and consists of two parts, one built in an open trench and the other partially excavated, joined by pedestrian tunnels. The Line 2 plat ...
. Provides buses to towns around southern Santiago, Viña del Mar, Temuco and Puerto Montt. * Terminal La Paz: located about two blocks away from
La Vega Central Market La Vega Central, also known as the Feria Mapocho (Mapocho market), is a market located at the far south of Recoleta commune in Santiago de Chile, near the north bank of the Mapocho River. A wide variety of products are sold in its surrounds, pri ...
; the closest Metro station is Puente Cal y Canto. It connects the rural areas north of Santiago.


Highways

A network of free flow
toll highway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...
s 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 Autopista Central ("Central Highway", in Spanish) is a privatized, partially submerged highway in Chile forming part of the Ruta 5. It forms part of the urban highway network of Santiago, all of which incorporate a free flow toll system. Out of t ...
, 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 Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...
toll roads connecting Santiago to other cities, include: Rutas del Pacífico ( Ruta 68), the continuation of the ''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 Melipilla (Mapudungun for "four Pillans") is a Chilean Communes of Chile, commune and Capital (political), capital List of cities in Chile, city of the Melipilla Province, province of the same name. It is part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region ...
and the port of
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
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; and Autopista Nororiente, which provides access to the suburban development known as Chicureo, north of the capital.


Public transportation

Santiago has 37% of Chile's vehicles, totaling 991,838, of which 979,346 are motorized. An extensive network of streets and avenues crisscrosses Santiago, facilitating travel between the different communities that make up the metropolitan area. In the 1990s, the government attempted to reorganize the public transportation system. New routes were introduced in 1994, and the buses were painted yellow. However, the system faced significant issues such as route overlaps, high levels of air and noise pollution, and safety concerns for both riders and drivers. To address these problems, a new transportation 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 underta ...
was devised. It was officially launched on February 10, 2007, combining core services across the city with the subway and local feeder routes, all under a unified payment system using a
contactless smartcard A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...
called
Tarjeta bip! Tarjeta bip! ("bip! card") is the contactless payment method used in the public transportation system of Red Metropolitana de Movilidad in the metropolitan region of Santiago, Chile. It is issued and maintained by Metro de Santiago. The name is pr ...
The change was not well received by users, who complained of a lack of buses, excessive transfers between buses, and reduced coverage. While some of these issues were eventually addressed, the system developed a poor reputation that it struggled to overcome. As of 2011, fare evasion remained persistently high. In 2019, the government rebranded the public transportation system as
RED Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
, aiming to distance it from the problematic Transantiago brand. In recent years, many cycle paths have been constructed, but their number remains limited, and the routes are poorly connected. Most cyclists ride on the streets, and despite helmet and light use being mandatory, compliance is not widespread.


Metro

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro () 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), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...
has seven operating lines (1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5 and 6), extending over and connecting 143 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 22 January 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

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
(formerly known as Transantiago) is the name of Santiago's comprehensive public transportation system. It operates by integrating local feeder bus lines, main bus lines, EFE commuter trains, and the metro network. The system features an integrated fare system that enables passengers to make transfers between bus, metro, and train services using a single, contactless smartcard known as "Bip!". Additionally, it offers reduced fares for senior citizens, high school students, and university students.


Vehicles for hire

Taxicabs are prevalent in Santiago and are easily recognizable by their black bodies and yellow roofs, as well as their orange license plates. Another type of taxi called ''radiotaxis'' can be ordered by phone and can come in any make, model, or color, but must always have the orange license plates. ''Colectivos'' are shared taxis that follow a specific route and charge a fixed fee for the ride.
Cabify Cabify is a platform to facilitate the transport of people and objects. The company operates in Spain and Latin America Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay). Previously, it also operated in Portugal Mexico, and Brazil. Cabify was founded ...
,
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...
and
DiDi Didi Chuxing Technology Company is a Chinese vehicle for hire company headquartered in Beijing with over 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers. The company provides app-based transportation services, including taxi hailing, private ...
are also available in Santiago, though authorities warn they currently operate outside the law.


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 53 min. Just 4,3% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day while . The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit (considering transfers) is 14 min, while 17,4% of riders wait less than 5 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 8.03 km, while 18% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.


Internal transportation

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 Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins (), 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 centre of the greater urban area and is long, and it ...
, better known as Alameda Avenue, which runs northeast and southwest. From north to south, it is crossed by
Autopista Central Autopista Central ("Central Highway", in Spanish) is a privatized, partially submerged highway in Chile forming part of the Ruta 5. It forms part of the urban highway network of Santiago, all of which incorporate a free flow toll system. Out of t ...
and the Independencia,
Gran Avenida Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...
, Recoleta,
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...
, Vicuña Mackenna and Tobalaba avenues. Other major roads include the Avenida Los Pajaritos to the west and
Providencia Avenue Avenida Providencia is a major thoroughfare in Santiago, Chile. It runs along the commune of Providencia. Description Providencia begins at the northern terminus of Vicuña Mackenna Avenue as a continuation of Alameda Avenue. Immediately, the ...
and
Apoquindo Avenue Apoquindo Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Santiago, Chile. It extends through the commune of Las Condes. Description Apoquindo Avenue originates immediately east of Tobalaba Avenue. The main stretch of this street runs eastward from the easte ...
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 a ...
acts as a
ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
. 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 The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...
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 The Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region is the authority elected by popular vote through universal suffrage since 2021 to govern the Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. History The 2017 constitutional reform established the popular el ...
, who is popularly elected to the office, now held by
Claudio Orrego Claudio Benjamín Orrego Larraín (born December 20, 1966) is a Chilean lawyer, Christian Democrat politician, and the Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region since July 14, 2021. Biography Orrego is a former minister of President Ricard ...
, and the regional presidential delegate of Santiago Metropolitan Region, an official appointed by the president of Chile. The conurbation of Greater Santiago does not fit perfectly into any administrative division, as it extends into four different
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
and 35
communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
plus 11 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 A cordillera is a chain or network of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly used in physical geogra ...
, Maipo, and
Talagante Talagante () is a commune and the capital city of the province of the same name in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. The word ''Talagante'' in Quechua comes from ''talacanta'', meaning "Lazo de Hechicero", which was the prope ...
. Although there is no official consensus in this regard, the communes of the city are usually grouped into seven sectors:
north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
,
center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
,
northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...
,
southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
,
south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
,
southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
and
southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
.
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 (1586), and Posada del Corregidor (1750). The cathedral on the central square (
Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...
) 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, which was finished in 1882, and the
Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago The Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago (English: ''Royal Court Palace or Palace of the Boxes'') is a building located on the Plaza de Armas in Santiago, Chile. The building dates back to 1808 and houses, since 1982, the National History Museu ...
, 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 Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. History and overview The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 184 ...
, 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 library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
, one of the largest libraries of South America. The Former National Congress Building, the Justice Palace, and the Royal Customs Palace (''Palacio de la Real Aduana de Santiago'') are located close to each other. The latter houses the 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 Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
, 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 Supreme Court of Chile is the highest court in Chile. It also administers the lower courts in the nation. It is located in the capital Santiago. In the Chilean system, the court lacks the broader power of judicial review—it cannot set bindi ...
. 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 Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE) (), founded on November 27, 1893, is Chile's dominant stock exchange, and the third largest stock exchange in Latin America, behind Brazil's BM&F Bovespa, and the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores in Mexico. On Decemb ...
(the ''Bolsa de Comercio''), completed in 1917, the
Club de la Unión Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...
(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 Paseo may refer to: * a ''paseo'', a promenade, esplanade or public avenue. * ''Paseo'', a euphemism for a ride to summary execution during the White Terror during the Spanish Civil War Parkways and malls * The Paseo (Kansas City, Missouri), a ...
, the
Santo Domingo Church Santo Domingo Church, formally known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila, is a Roman Catholic parish church and national shrine in Quezon City, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdict ...
(1771), and the
Central Market Central Market may refer to: Fresh food markets *Adelaide Central Market, Australia * Cardiff Central Market, Wales *Central Market, Hong Kong * Central Market, Casablanca, Morocco *Riga Central Market, Latvia * Central Market (Columbus, Ohio), Uni ...
(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 Gran Torre Costanera, previously known as Costanera Center Torre 2, and also known as El Costanera (The Costanera) by the locals, and previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 62-story skyscraper in Santiago, Chile. It is the tallest buildi ...
(South America's tallest building) and other commercial buildings. The four office towers are served by highway and subway connections. File:Teatro Municipal, Santiago 20230521 01.jpg,
Municipal Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. History and overview The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 184 ...
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 Se ...
File:Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Santiago2.jpg, Contemporary Art Museum of Santiago File:Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.jpg, The National Museum of Fine Arts, located next to
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 and is located in the historical downtown of Santiago, west of Plaza Baquedano and east of Estación Mapocho Estaci ...
. File:Palacio Edwards, Santiago 20230416.jpg, Palacio Edwards File:Casa Matriz Banco de Chile 2013.jpg, Head Office of the Bank of Chile


Heritage and monuments

Within the metropolitan area of Santiago, there are 174
heritage sites A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...
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 World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
by
Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
three have already been proposed by the Chilean government: the Incan sanctuary of El Plomo, the church and convent of San Francisco and 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 Se ...
. In the center of Santiago are several buildings built during the Spanish domination and that mostly correspond to, as the 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 ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...
, as the seat of
Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...
, the
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
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 Equestrian Club of Santiago, the head offices of the
University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.
and the
Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...
,
Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
and the Mapocho Station, 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 library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
, Museum of Fine Arts and the
Barrio París-Londres Barrio París-Londres is a barrio located in Santiago, Chile. The neighborhood intersects at Calle Londres and Calle París, located behind the San Francisco Church, in its former orchard. Barrio París-Londres features shops, hostels, hotels an ...
, 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 Lucia hill, the shrine of the Virgin Mary on the summit of 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 and is located in the historical downtown of Santiago, west of Plaza Baquedano and east of Estación Mapocho Estaci ...
, the
O'Higgins Park O'Higgins Park (, previously known as Parque Cousiño), covering approximately , is Santiago, Chile's second largest public park after Metropolitan Park. It is situated in the center of the capital city, within the Santiago Commune. Named afte ...
and the
Quinta Normal Park Quinta Normal Park is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park is located in the Commune of Santiago with its namesake commune, Quinta Normal, situated just outside the park across the communal boundary. The park spans and is bound ...
.


Cultural activities and entertainment

In Santiago's major
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
companies are located, hosting several national and international projects, with the highest expression during the International Theater Festival known as 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 The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) () is one of the oldest public universities in Chile. The institution was born as ''Escuela de Artes y Oficios'' (Spanish: ''School of Arts and Careers'') in 1849 by Ignacy Domeyko, under the government ...
. 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 (Santiago), Movistar Arena and the Teatro Caupolicán, Caupolican Theater. On the other hand, the opera and ballet performances are permanently accepted by the
Municipal Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. History and overview The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 184 ...
, 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, National Museum of Fine Arts and the
National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) 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. With 4.4 ...
. 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.
Quinta Normal Park Quinta Normal Park is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park is located in the Commune of Santiago with its namesake commune, Quinta Normal, situated just outside the park across the communal boundary. The park spans and is bound ...
also has several museums, among which are the already mentioned Natural History, Artequin Museum, the Museum of Science and Technology, Santiago, Museum of Science and Technology, and the Museo Ferroviario. In 2010, the Museum of Memory and Human Rights was inaugurated, which commemorates the victims of human rights violations committed during the country's military dictatorship. 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 library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
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. Palacio de la Real Audiencia y Cajas Reales 2013-09-24 13-40-32.jpg, The Chilean National History Museum, National Historical Museum, located in the
Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...
Chile-02568 - Post Office (49032531863).jpg, The Central Post Office Building Frontis_Museo_Nacional_de_Historia_Natural_de_Chile.jpg, The National Museum of Natural History in Chile, National Museum of Natural History, located in the
Quinta Normal Quinta Normal is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is named after Quinta Normal Park, which lies directly on the border between Quinta Normal and Santiago Centro, although the park itself is locat ...
. BibliotecaNacionaldeChile.JPG, The
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
from Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, La Alameda.


Music

Santiago has two symphony orchestras: * ''Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago'' ("Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra"), which performs in the ''Teatro Municipal'' (
Municipal Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. History and overview The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 184 ...
) * ''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 and ''Copesa'' and have earned more than the 91% of revenues generated in printed advertizing in Chile. Some newspapers available in Santiago are: * ''The Santiago Times'' * * ''La Tercera'' * ''La Cuarta'' * * ''The Clinic (newspaper), The Clinic'' * ''Las Últimas Noticias''


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 soccer 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 () is a public university, 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 soccer 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 soccer clubs are based in Santiago, including Unión Española, Audax Italiano, Club Deportivo Palestino, Palestino, Santiago Morning, Deportes Magallanes, Magallanes and A.C. Barnechea, Barnechea. Other sports, mainly tennis and basketball, are also popular. The
Club Hípico de Santiago Club Hípico de Santiago is a thoroughbred horse race track in Santiago de Chile, 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 E ...
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 were held in Santiago. The 2027 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held in Santiago. This will mark the first time that a Spanish speaking country, the southern hemisphere and Latin America has ever hosted the Special Olympics World Games.


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: * 150-hectare
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 ...
, which covers the Cerro San Cristóbal, San Cristóbal Hill and includes the Chilean National Zoo and the Santiago Cable Car. *
Parque Bicentenario The Bicentenario Park (Spanish: , literally "Bicentennial Park"), is one of the largest parks of the city of Santiago, Chile. The park was designed by the Chilean architect Teodoro Fernández after winning the official design competition in 1998 ...
, a 30-hectare park alongside the Mapocho river in
Vitacura Vitacura is a communes of Chile, commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily h ...
* Parque O'Higgins, Chile, O'Higgins Park *
Quinta Normal Park Quinta Normal Park is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park is located in the Commune of Santiago with its namesake commune, Quinta Normal, situated just outside the park across the communal boundary. The park spans and is bound ...
* Parque Forestal, Chile, Forestal Park, park located at the city center alongside Mapocho river * Cerro Santa Lucía, Santa Lucia Hill * Parque Araucano in Las Condes, adjacent to the Parque Arauco shopping mall contains 30 hectares of gardens. * Parque Inés de Suarez in Providencia * Parque Padre Hurtado, also known as Parque Intercomunal. * Parque de la Familia * Parque Mapocho Río 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 ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...
, 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 Se ...
, government palace. * Teatro Municipal (
Municipal Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. History and overview The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 184 ...
), the principal opera house of the country. The main sports venues are Estadio Nacional de Chile, Estadio Nacional (site of the 1962 World Cup final), Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Estadio Santa Laura, and
Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, also referred to as Claro Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium, in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. The stadium, located into the San Carlos de Apoquindo Sports Complex ...
.


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.


See also

* * List of people from Santiago * Criollo people


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 Cities built on a grid