Chile

Chile is driven by its mutable geography. The Atacama Desert, the most arid desert in the world, and the southern glaciers and volcanoes make it so that Chile’s people are concentrated in one small urban area in Santiago. This city contains 40% of Chile’s population and has become an epicenter of technological development as Chile’s economy begins to lead Latin America. This growing economy is mostly concentrated around the exportation of copper. Additionally, wine is a massive industry in the country which brings in lots of money. Luis Urzúa and a group of Chilean copper miners in 2010 were infamously trapped in the San Jose mine for months, gaining international attention. They were successfully rescued, and the world saw how Chile respected their miners. Demographically, Chile is influenced significantly by the native Mapuche Indians. 9% of Chileans are of indigenous descent. Their presence takes root in Chilean art, music, and food. In terms of immigration, many migrants have come through the northern Chilean border, primarily from Venezuela, Peru, and even the Caribbean. There have been, however, many protests in opposition to this influx of people among Chileans. In the realm of sport, soccer consumes Chileans’ lives. National heroes like Arturo Vidal take a prominent role in households around the country. Literature is very renowned in Chile. The Nobel Prize-winning author Pablo Neruda, in tandem with Gabriela Mistral, has demonstrated Chile’s supremacy in the scene of poetry. Novelist Isabel Allende and actor Pedro Pascal also bolstered Chile’s arts scene. A notable cultural dance is the cueca, performed commonly during cultural celebrations. Las Fiestas Patrias, the Chilean day of independence, sees men dress up like huasos (Chilean cowboys) and carry out this dance with women wearing elegant dresses. Chilean food is centered around the ocean, due to the country’s proximity to the sea. Some common dishes are ceviche and empanadas as well as other plates with beef. In Chile, the schedule is very late. Carrete, or Chilean parties, don’t start until past midnight sometimes, and once, or tea time, takes place very late. Culturally, a traditional Chilean greeting consists of a kiss on the cheek, and PDAs are much more common in Santiago. Valparaiso is the country’s more scenic and historic center, being the only other sizable city in the country. Machismo is a dominant belief system in Chile, pushing the belief that the male is the dominant force in the home. Chileans stay very connected to their families for long portions of their lives. They stay at home for college often and live with their parents until they are married, then visit their extended family on the weekends. Coming out of the ‘80s and ‘90s and the dictatorship that took place, many Chileans are apprehensive about the nation’s political scene and ensuring that democracy is restored. It is widely known that Chilean Spanish is so unique that it sometimes feels like a different language. This comes as a result of Chile's isolated geography and influence of indigenous languages. A couple key attributes of this dialect are that it is spoken super fast, "s" sounds or other letters at the end of words are often omitted, "po" is added at the end of sentences for emphasis, and tones are highly variable. A couple popular slang words are "bacan" meaning cool, "carrete" meaning party, "weón" meaning dude, and "cachai" being "got it?". One common speech pattern is an elision of "d" and "b" in words ending with a vowel. Another trademark aspect of Chilean Spanish is the replacement of the "ch" sound for a "sh" sound. Chileans also like to repeat personal pronouns within a sentence, and they even have their own verb conjugations. Verbs ending in "as" are modified to "ai" while verbs ending in "es" are then "i." Further, reinvented imperatives are found in Chile. As an example, instead of saying "pon" as a command, Chileans will often exclaim "pone," or "sale" for "salir."