Population: 16,000,000
(2006).

Location:
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru.

Area:
1.998.475 square kilometers:
756,950 square kilometers (nearly twice the size of California); land area: 748,800 square kilometers, including Easter Island (Isla de Pascua; 118 square kilometers), Islas Juan Fernández (179 square kilometers), and Isla Sala y Gómez. The Chilean Antarctic Territory covers 1,249,675 square kilometers.

Land Boundaries:
Total: 6,171 km: Argentina 5,150 km, Bolivia 861 km, Peru 160 km.

Coastline:
6,435 km.

Maritime Claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm.
Continental shelf: 200 nm.
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm.
Territorial sea: 12 nm.

Natural resources:
copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum.

Environment—Current Issues:
air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation contributing to loss of biodiversity; soil erosion; desertification.

Environment—International Agreements:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified.