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Geography
Extending 4,265 km along the Pacific coast
of South America, from the Peruvian border
in the North to the southernmost point of
the continent (Cape Horn), Chile is a land
of marked regional diversity. There are four
principal geographical zones; (1) the mineral-rich
desert in north; (2) the fertile central
valley; (3) the fjord inlets and archipelagos
of the far south; and (4) the cordillera
of the Andes, occupying the entire eastern
part of the country and forming its frontier
with Argentina. Total land area is (excluding
Chilean Atlantic territory) 756,000 sq. km.
One quarter of this area is made up of islands.
At its maximum the country is about 400 km
wide, and the average width is no more than
176 km.
Demography
In 1992 the population was estimated at 13.5
million, about 80% of mixed European and
Indian origin and 83% urbanised. Most of
the population is concentrated in the central
zone, which contains the largest urban centres
- the Santiago metropolitan area (5 million),Valparaiso
(0.3 million) and Concepcion (0.5 million).
The population grew at an annual rate of
1.7% from 1979 to 1989 and is expected to
reach a total of about 15 million in the
year 2000. Children under the age of 15 make
up 31% of the population. The literacy rate
is officially estimated at 92.3% and about
42% of the population aged over 14 has received
a secondary or higher education. In 1985
some 13% of men and 9% of women held a university
degree.
The labour force is estimated at about 4.7
million, distributed among the following
sectors: manufacturing industry (18.1%),
agriculture (15.5%), trade (17.9%), personal
and domestic services (12.8%), community
and social services (12.5%), government and
financial services (7.4%), construction (5.6%),
transport and utilities (6.4%) and mining
(2.9%).
History and Political Situation
Chilean independence from Spain is officially
dated from September 18th, 1810. Following
an initial period of territorial consolidation
and political restructuring, Chile was governed
by parliamentary rule until the mid-1920's.
This was succeeded by a period of political
and economic instability with two intervals
of military rule. Democratic government was
re-introduced in 1932 and for the greater
part of the next thirty years Chile was administered
by Radical (social democratic) or Radical-led
coalition governments. The Christian Democrats
under Eduardo Frei came to power in 1964
and initiated a number of fundamental reforms,
including land reform.
In 1970 the Marxist coalition Unidad Popular
won the presidency for Dr. Salvador Allende.
His government, although it had won only
37% of the popular vote, put into effect
a radical nationalist and socialist programme.
Political polarisation within Chile became
increasingly severe as economic disruption
resulted from the government's policies.
In September 1973 the armed forces staged
a coup d'騁at. The congress was dissolved
and Chile was subsequently ruled by a military
junta comprising the Commanders-in-Chief
of the army, navy, air force and police.
General Augusto Pinochet, Commander-in-chief
of the army became Head of State in June
1974 and President in December of the same
year.
In September 1980, the junta promulgated
a new constitution that was approved by plebiscite.
This introduced a gradual process of political
normalisation leading to a further plebiscite
in October 1988 to determine whether General
Pinochet was to be given a further term of
office. The plebiscite rejected this option,
showing a clear majority (54%) in favour
of open presidential elections.
In the general elections held on December
14th 1989, Patricio Aylwin, the Christian
Democrat leader of the main 17-party opposition
coalition, polled 55% of the vote becoming
President in March 1990. The coalition also
gained 22 of the 38 elected seats in the
Senate and 71 of the 120 seats in the Chamber
of Deputies. Since March 1990, Chile has
been governed by a bicameral parliamentary
system.
The main political groupings are Renovacion
Nacional (centre right), Union Democrata
Independiente (right wing), Democracia Cristiana
(Christian Democrats), Partido por la Democracia
(PPD) (an alliance of leftist parties), and
Partido Amplio de Izquierda (PAIS) (an alliance
of Marxist and non-Marxist socialist parties).
Sr. Aylwin's government is moderate and has
kept the successful economic policies of
the previous government basically unchanged.
The government and the centre-right opposition
are co-operating to achieve national reconciliation
and the consolidation of democracy. This
has permitted a remarkable "soft-landing"
in the transmission from a military regime,
although a small number of terrorist groups
remain active.
Economy
On taking power in 1973, the military junta's
immediate priority was to reduce inflation,
running at an annualised rate exceeding 500%.
State expenditure was sharply reduced - the
budget deficit fell from 13% of GDP in 1972
to 2.6% in 1975, subsidies and price controls
were eliminated and tariffs decreased to
a uniform level of 10% by 1979. Liberal economic
policies were introduced, offering incentives
to foreign investment and dismantling the
barriers that the previous regime had erected
to protect local industry from external competition.
The programme of agrarian reform, introduced
in the 1960s by the Christian Democrats,
was brought to a halt and some 39% of the
nation's productive land was restored to
its former owners while a further 20% was
sold. Most of the companies nationalised
by previous administrations were privatised,
or returned to their original owners.
After the shock of the reduction in purchasing
power created by the government's measures
the economy began to grow, maintaining an
average annual growth rate of 7.1% over the
period 1977-81, fuelled, in part, by borrowing
from abroad and a domestic credit boom. In
its pursuit of inflation control, the government
fixed the exchange rate at the unrealistically
high level of pesos 39 = $1. Domestic manufacturers
were unable to compete with imports and rising
oil prices, combined with falling copper
prices, set off a slump. In 1982, GDP fell
by 14%, industrial production declined by
21% and over 60,000 firms went out of business,
as well as some of the country's principal
banks becoming technically insolvent. The
peso was devalued sharply, increasing the
burden of foreign obligations contracted
by the private sector. Salaries in the private
sector lost 50% of their purchasing power
between August 1981 and October 1983 and
by 1984, Chile's external debt of $19 billion
exceeded its annual GDP.
GDP growth resumed in 1984, and has since
averaged some 6.2 % annually. The government
promoted structural change in order to encourage
exports and the focussing of the economy
on areas of natural comparative advantage.
The imaginative use of debt-equity swaps
resulted in over $ 8 billion of external
debt conversions.
Chile's main strength is as a low cost producer
of raw materials: primarily minerals, forest
products and food (notably fish and fruit).
Copper traditionally accounted for over half
of Chile's export income, but increasing
diversification into non-traditional areas
is reducing the country's reliance on copper
revenue: copper accounted for less than 40%
of exports in 1992. Substantial primary products
investment programmes were completed in the
early 1990s, such as La Escondida copper
mine and Celulosa Arauco pulp mill. These
will contribute to strong export growth.
Chile remains vulnerable, however, to fluctuations
in commodity prices, since it is only recently
that moves to add value to raw materials
within Chile (e.g. food processing, furniture
manufacture) have been gathering momentum.
Nevertheless, non-traditional exports in
such diverse fields as farmed salmon, wine
and berries have been growing rapidly, and
Chilean companies have benefited from increased
demand in neighbouring countries as a result
of their economic stabilisation programmes.
The new government raised tax rates in 1990
to finance greater expenditure on public
health, education and housing . In June 1991
import tariffs were cut to 11% to help fight
inflation and weaken the peso by stimulating
imports. Both factors have stimulated consumer
demand, and in turn investment underwent
a boom in 1992, rising to 21% of GDP. An
important reform to the capital markets was
introduced early in 1993, paving the way
for Chile's successful domestic savings institutions
- private sector pension funds and life insurance
companies - to finance a greater proportion
of domestic corporate and infrastructure
investment.
The challenge for 1993 is to prevent 1992's
success translating into over-heating: unemployment
is presently 4.6% of the labour force, its
lowest in 20 years, consumer price inflation
at 12.7% is the lowest for 8 years and 1992's
10.4% rate of GDP growth is unsustainable.
Productivity improvement and a continuation
of high investment levels - foreign and domestic
- should combine with lower rates of increase
in government spending to generate steady
growth in 1993 and beyond. Chilean companies,
exploiting their two decades of experience
of structural economic reform, have been
among the leaders in acquiring under-managed
assets in neighbouring countries embarking
on similar reform programmes. Thus they are
beginning to position themselves in advance
for the regional economic integration which
should characterise the remainder of the
1990s.
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