Chile — books & literature

The story of Chile

Long before Europeans arrived, the Mapuche people thrived across the fertile lands south of the Bío-Bío River, one of the few indigenous nations in the Americas that was never conquered by the Inca Empire. Ferdinand Magellan sighted the coast in 1520 while finding the strait that bears his name, and in 1541 the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago on behalf of the Spanish crown. The Mapuche resisted Spanish rule for more than 300 years, killing Valdivia himself in 1553-54, in one of the longest indigenous resistances in the hemisphere. Chile broke from Spain beginning with a first governing junta on 18 September 1810 and won full independence in 1818 after the Battle of Maipú. The 19th and 20th centuries brought territorial expansion, a mining-driven economy, and, in 1970, the election of Salvador Allende as Latin America's first democratically elected socialist president , cut short by Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup and a 17-year dictatorship. Democracy returned in 1990, and Chile has since built one of South America's most stable and prosperous economies, stretching over 4,300 km from the Atacama Desert to Patagonia.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 12,500 BCE

   Earliest known human settlement in the Americas at Monte Verde, in southern Chile.

2. 1520

   Ferdinand Magellan sights the Chilean coast while charting the strait that bears his name.

3. 1541

   Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago, establishing the Spanish colonial capital.

4. 1553-1554

   Mapuche leader Lautaro captures and kills Pedro de Valdivia at the Battle of Tucapel.

5. 1598

   The Great Uprising drives Spanish settlers north of the Bío-Bío River, which becomes the colonial frontier.

6. 1810

   First Government Junta formed in Santiago (18 September), beginning the independence movement.

7. 1818

   Full independence from Spain declared (12 February); definitively secured two months later at the Battle of Maipú (5 April).

8. 1970

   Salvador Allende elected president, the first democratically elected Marxist head of state in Latin America.

9. 1973

   Military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet overthrows Allende (11 September); 17-year dictatorship begins.

10. 1990

    Chile returns to democratic rule following a national referendum.

Top 10 things to know about Chile

1. Chile is the longest north-south country on Earth, stretching over 4,300 km yet averaging only about 180 km wide.
2. The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the driest places on Earth, with some spots that have never recorded rainfall.
3. Chile has two Nobel Prize winners in Literature: Gabriela Mistral (1945) and Pablo Neruda (1971).
4. Easter Island (Rapa Nui), home to the famous moai statues, is Chilean territory in the Pacific.
5. The Mapuche people resisted Inca and Spanish conquest for centuries, one of the longest indigenous resistances in the Americas.
6. Chile is the world's largest copper producer, supplying roughly a quarter of global supply.
7. The Andes mountains form nearly the entire length of its eastern border.
8. Chile's clear northern skies host major international observatories, including ALMA and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
9. Valparaíso, a UNESCO World Heritage port city, is known for its colorful hillside houses and street art.
10. Chile is one of the top wine-exporting nations, especially for Carménère, a grape variety nearly lost in France.

Famous people from Chile

Say it in Chile's language

Did you know?

• ★Laid over Europe, Chile would stretch roughly from Norway to the Sahara Desert.
• ★Chile's Villarrica volcano is one of the few in the world with a permanently active lava lake.
• ★The 2010 rescue of 33 trapped miners at the San José mine, after 69 days underground, was watched by an estimated one billion people worldwide.

Chile culture

• Fiestas Patrias (18-19 September) is the biggest national holiday, marked by cueca dancing, asado barbecues, and rodeo.
• Cueca, a courtship dance performed with handkerchiefs, is the official national dance.
• Pisco, distilled from grapes, is the national spirit, most famously served as a pisco sour.
• Family asados (barbecues) and long shared meals are central to Chilean social life.

Why read Chile's books

Chile has produced more Nobel laureates in Literature than any other Latin American nation, and its shelves run from Neruda's odes and Mistral's verse to Isabel Allende's sweeping family sagas , a literary heritage worth exploring here.