Santiago, Chile

History

Santiago was founded by Pedro de Valdivia on February 12, 1541 with the name Santiago de Nueva Extremadura. The founding ceremony was held on what is now known as Cerro Santa Lucía. Valdivia chose the location of Santiago because of its climate and the ease with which it could be defended. This was because the river Mapocho split in two, and rejoined further downstream, forming an island. With the help of the indigenous population the first buildings where erected.

Climate

The climate in Santiago is mediterranean. With hot dry summers (November to March) with temperatures reaching to 35 Celsius on some days. The winters (June to August) are more humid with maximum temperatures of 15 being the norm, and minimums of a few degrees above freezing.

Mean rainfall is 360 mm per year.

Population

Currently there live about 5.5 million people in the Santiago Metropolitan area. This represents about one third of the total Population of Chile.

Culture

Santiago has the largest concentration of cultural institutions in the country.

Universities

• Universidad de Chile
• Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
• Universidad de Santiago
• Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana
• Universidad Andrés Bello
• Universidad de la República
• Universidad Diego Portales
• Universidad Mayor
• Universidad Alberto Hurtado
• Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación
• Universidad Santo Tomás
• Universidad de las Américas

Music

There are two symphonic orchestras:

• Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago, which performs in the Teatro Municipal
• Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile, dependent of the Universidad de Chile, performs in its theater.

Museums

Museums include:

• Museo de Arte Precolombino
• Museo Histórico Nacional
• Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
• Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
• Museo Interactivo Mirador
• Museo Artequín
• Museo de Ciencia y Tecnología
• Museo Ferroviario
• Museo de la Solidaridad "Salvador Allende"

Transport

• Santiago has an extensive, if chaotic, privately-run bus system.
• There are three metro lines that function excellently though their coverage is somewhat limited at the moment. The Government is in various stages of constructing three additional metro lines
• There are train connections from Santiago to the southern part of the country.
• Private inter-urban bus companies provide excellent and cheap transportation from Santiago to virtually any part of the country.
• Santiago's airport is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

Places to visit

• La Moneda, government palace
• The museums mentioned above
• Cerro Santa Lucía (Santa Lucía Hill)
• Cerro San Cristóbal (San Cristóbal Hill)
• There are ski resorts within an hour's drive east from the city (Farellones, Valle Nevado, La Parva etc)
• Seaside resorts such as Algarrobo, an hour's drive west
• La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago.
• Parque Metropolitano de Santiago (Santiago Metropolitan Zoo), a zoo located on Cerro San Cristóbal
• Parque O'Higgins
• Parque Forestal, a park located at the city centre by the river
• Estación Central, a railway station designed by Gustave Eiffel
• Estadio Nacional
• Estadio Víctor Jara

Environment

Because of the air-circulation patterns (or lack thereof) in the central valley, in the winter months there is a lot of smog pollution in Santiago. The Government has been trying to do something to reduce the problem by giving incentives to heavy industry to move out of the central valley but until now it has not had any real effect.

Another major problem has been the contamination of the river Mapocho by industrial and household waste, which was dumped unfiltered into the river, and mining waste from upstream; there are a number of copper mines in the Andes east of Santiago. The government has passed a law that obligates industry and the governments of the comunas to process all their waste by 2006. There are various big waste production plants being constructed because of this.

The sound levels in the main city streets can be quite high. This is mostly due to very noisy city buses. These buses are also a major contributor to the winter smog.

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