Chile's history as a nation began rather inconspicuously on the banks of the Mapoche River on February 12, 1541, when the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura. At the time, several distinct indigenous groups called Chile home, including the more advanced northern tribes (which had already been conquered by the Incas), the fierce Mapuche warriors of the central region, and the nomadic hunting and gathering tribes of Patagonia. In Spain's eyes, Chile did not hold much interest because of its lack of riches such as gold, and the country remained somewhat of a colonial backwater until the country's independence in 1818, which was led by Bernardo O'Higgins, the son of an Irish immigrant. Spain did, however, see to the development of a feudal landowning system whereby prominent Spaniards were issued a large tract of land and an encomienda, or a group of Indian slaves, that the landowner was charged with caring for and converting to Christianity. Thus rose Chile's traditional and nearly self-supporting hacienda, known as a latifundio, as well as a rigid class system that defined the population.
Chile experienced an economic boom in the early 20th century in the form of nitrate mining in the northern desert, a region that had been confiscated from Peru and Bolivia after the War of the Pacific in 1883. Mining is still a huge economic force, especially copper mining, and Chile's abundant natural resources have fostered industries in petroleum, timber, fishing, agriculture, tourism, and wine.
Chile enjoyed a politically democratic government until the onset of a vicious military dictatorship, led by General Augusto Pinochet, who took power from 1973 to 1990. In 1970, voters narrowly elected the controversial Dr. Salvador Allende as Chile's first socialist president. Allende vowed to improve the lives of Chile's poorer citizens by instituting a series of radical changes that might redistribute the nation's lopsided wealth. Although the first year showed promising signs, Allende's reforms ultimately sent the country spiraling into economic ruin. On September 11, 1973, military forces led by Pinochet and supported by the U.S. government toppled Allende's government with a dramatic coup d'état, during which Allende took his own life. Upper-class Chileans celebrated the coup as an economic and political salvation, but nobody was prepared for the brutal repression that would haunt Chile for the next 17 years. Most disturbing were the series of tortures and "disappearances" of an estimated 3,000 of Pinochet's political adversaries, including activists, artists, journalists, professors, and any other "subversive" threats. Thousands more fled the country.
Following a "yes" or "no" plebiscite in 1988, Chileans voted to end the dictatorship, and though Pinochet didn't step down as President for another 2 years and he headed the Chilean army for a few more years, since then the country has put great effort into establishing a solid democracy. Today the country is considered the most politically stable in Latin America. Pinochet spent his post presidency years living a cushy life until a banking scandal and judicial inquiries into human rights abuses forced him to spend his last years under house arrest until his death in 2006. Shortly before that, Chile elected its first female president, Michelle Bachelet. The fact that Bachelet was tortured under Pinochet showed just how far the country had come.
Chile Today -- At the present, the Chilean economy is stronger and more stable than any other in Latin America. It is rich in natural resources such as copper, forestry, salmon harvesting, and agriculture, and now tourism is becoming an economic heavyweight. In spite of one of the lowest rates of unemployment in Latin America and a relative lack of corruption, Chile still has far to go to solve social problems such as poverty and inadequate education for the majority of its children. Chile also still suffers from an unhealthy dose of classism; however, the country boasts a larger middle class than its neighbors Peru and Bolivia, with about 30% of the population living under the poverty level.
Billionaire centralist businessman Sebastián Piñera became President of Chile in 2010, the first time since the end of the Pinochet regime that power has not been held by the leftist coalition. Experts saw it as an important sign of renewal.
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