Santiago (Chile)

Santiago (Chile), city, capital of Chile, on the Mapocho River in the central part of the country. Santiago is situated at an elevation of about 520 m (1,700 ft) on an alluvial plain, with the snow-capped Andes visible to the east. It is Chile's largest city and its commercial, manufacturing, transport, and cultural centre. Important products manufactured here include processed food, textiles, clothing, and chemicals. Government activities and tourism are also important to the economy. The city is served by an international airport.

Santiago is the site of the University of Chile, founded in 1738 as the Royal University of San Felipe; the Catholic University of Chile (1888); the University of Santiago de Chile (1947); the General Bernardo O'Higgins Military School (1817); the National Archives; the Congress Building; the National Library; and the National Stadium, notorious as a place of imprisonment and torture of many citizens during the military junta rule in the early 1970s. Among the many museums here are the National Historical Museum, with collections from the pre-Columbian, colonial, and more recent periods; the National Museum of Fine Arts; the Contemporary Art Museum, in Forestal Park; the Art of the American Peoples Museum, with a collection of Chilean folk art; the National Museum of Natural History; and the Natural History Museum of San Pedro Nolasco. Other points of interest are a zoological park; the 16th-century cathedral; and the Presidential Palace, built in the early 19th century. Two colonial fortresses are located on the slopes of Santa Lucía Hill, now a park in the city centre. Santiago was home to the Nobel-prize winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

Santiago was established in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia in an area inhabited by the Picunche people. In 1647 the community was severely damaged by an earthquake. In 1651 Santiago was made an episcopal see, and when Chile achieved independence in 1818, it became the nation's capital. New roads and dykes, a railway to connect Santiago with the port of Valparaíso, and other amenities were added to attract wealthy entrepreneurs to the region. Rapid growth and expansion continued into the next century. Santiago also attracted a large number of rural migrants who set up campamentos (shanty towns) in outlying areas of the city. The community has periodically been damaged by severe floods, and it repeatedly suffered from civil strife in the early 1970s. The late 1990s saw renewed civil unrest surrounding the controversy around the fate of General Augusto Pinochet, the former leader of the military junta and head of state. Population, urban agglomeration, 5,477,804 (2003 estimate).