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Chile

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World Regional Geology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Science ((EESS))

Chile is a narrow elongate country (741,767 km2 or 292,256 sq mi) on the Pacific side of the South American continent. The capital is Santiago. The country extends from about 18° to 56°S, a distance of over 4225 km. The breadth varies between 90 and 390 km (Fig. 1). Several small islands in the Pacific also belong to Chile (see Juan Fernandez Island, Easter Island). Since 1940, Chile claims the sector of the Antarctic lying between 43 and 90°W, an area of 1,250,000 km2.

FIGURE 1
figure 1_3-540-31081-1_33

Geomorphological divisions of Chile. The Coastal Range and the High Cordillera are dotted. The Longitudinal Valley and the Chilean part of the Patagonia tableland in the Great South are white. The parts in insets are the sectors in Fig. 2.

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Authors
  1. Rolf KÖSter
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© 1975 Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.

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KÖSter, R. (1975). Chile . In: World Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_33

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_33

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-4702-5145-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31081-5

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