What are the geographical peculiarities of Chile?
Due to its longitudinal size, 4300 km long, Chile covers a great geographical and climatic diversity, from the Tropic of Capricorn to the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego.
The natural border of the Andes Cordillera adds further peculiarities peculiar to Chile: the whole country is wedged in its width between the Pacific coast and the mountain range.
If it is not possible to be exhaustive here, here are nevertheless the main geo-climatic zones of Chile, from North to South :
The Great North: a desert region
This part, which covers a good quarter of the total surface of the country, from Arica to the Serena, is one of the most arid regions in the world, especially the Atacama Desert. Low rainfall, intense sunshine and desert landscapes both on the coast and on the Andean plateau.The Andes cordillera splits in two: one part continues its way to the border with Peru, the other part diverts towards Bolivia. An enormous plateau of altitude, the Altiplano, between these two chains was thus formed around 2500 m of altitude (the summits culminate there at more than 6000m). The Altiplano is characterized by a very strong thermal amplitude: strong heat during the day (25 degrees with a scorching sun) and cool or even negative temperatures at night.
The Central Valley: a wooded and temperate region
Due to the "retreat" of the Cordillera towards the land, further east, coastal plains occupy the space between the mountains and the coast and allow the settlement of large agglomerations. In fact, it is between Santiago and Chiloé where most of the Chilean population is concentrated in a milder climate.Nevertheless, there is a strong difference between the Pacific coast and the western slopes of the Cordillera.
Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, for example, have a typical Mediterranean climate, although the cold waters of the Pacific do not encourage bathing.
Between Chiloé and the Lakes Region, the cooler and wetter climate offers a dense vegetation cover: Forests and agriculture form the landscapes of the region.
Around Pucón, on the slopes of the Cordillera, one finds a mountain climate of the Pyrenean type.
Patagonia
The Cordillera, lower at these latitudes, plunges into the South Pacific and cools. The landscape is totally fragmented in a maze of fjords formed when the region was entirely glaciated. If forests remain, large parts of the territory are covered by pampas-type vegetation in a steppe climate.
