Conventional Long Form Name: Republic of Chile Capital City: Santiago Type of Government: Republic Date of Independence: 18 September 1810 (from Spain) National Holiday(s): Independence Day, 18 September (1810) Description of Executive Branch/Powers: Description of Legislative Branch/Powers: Description of Judicial Branch/Powers: Suffrage: Name of THEIR Ambassador to the U.S. : Ambassador Felipe Bulnes Serrano Location of THEIR embassy in the U.S. : Washington, DC Location(s) of THEIR consulate(s) in the U.S. : Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco Name of U.S. Ambassador to THEM: Charge d'Affaires Stephen M. Liston Location of U.S. embassy THERE: Santiago Name of THEIR representative to UN: N/A National Symbols: huemul (mountain deer); Andean condor Descriptions of International Disputes: Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile has offered instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile to Bolivian natural gas; Chile rejects Peru's unilateral legislation to change its latitudinal maritime boundary with Chile to an equidistance line with a southwestern axis favoring Peru; in October 2007, Peru took its maritime complaint with Chile to the ICJ; territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine and British claims; the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001, has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur) Quantity of refugees inside country AND country(ies) of origin of refugees: N/A Quantity of Internally Displaced Persons: N/A Quantity of Stateless Persons: N/A Description of current human trafficking issues related to this country: N/A Description of Illicit Drug trafficking/use: transshipment country for cocaine destined for Europe and the region; some money laundering activity, especially through the Iquique Free Trade Zone; imported precursors passed on to Bolivia; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, making Chile a significant consumer of cocaine (2008)
Two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; a blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of the white band; the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center representing a guide to progress and honor; blue symbolizes the sky, white is for the snow-covered Andes, and red represents the blood spilled to achieve independence.
Chief of State and Head of Government: President Sebastian Pinera Echenique