Chile

4 Pages 948 Words

Chile is one of the most diverse countries on the planet. Because it stretches 6500 miles down the Pacific coast of South America, Chile experiences many different weather patterns and because of this has developed different regions of their long country (World Factbook Chile, Online). There is varied topography in Chile, but this time the topography doesn’t really change north to south. Instead, the topography of Chile changes from west to east because right at the coastline the land is relatively flat, but about 90 miles in, on average, the Andes Mountains rise up. The combination of the topography and the varied climates has managed to cultivate many different kinds of vegetation that range from desert flowers to wet forests. Chile can be a very hospitable place to live if you live in the right temperature zone and the right elevation but when it comes to the interaction between Chileans and their environment, there isn’t much land that is left untouched by people especially after the discovery of copper in the Atacama Desert. Indeed Chile has made the most of their somewhat odd orientation in the world and in truth Chile is one of the most successful South American countries thanks mostly to their strong mining efforts. Chile is regarded as one of the few success stories of South America even with their diverse environment (Geography, 277).
The climate of Chile is incredible because the country stretches north to south for such a long distance that in the northern section of the country near the Tropic Of Capricorn there is a desert like climate thanks mostly to the rain shadow effect of the Andes Mountains which abut the coast very closely in the northern section. In the middle of Chile, the climate is similar to that of the Mediterranean with warm temperatures all year round. As you move farther south though the climate changes into a colder damper type similar to that of the American northwest, like Washington stat...