Chile

Chile stretches 4270 kilometres down the Pacific coast. The country is never more than 170 kilometres wide, but nevertheless rises to an altitude of almost 7000 metres, with the Andes Mountains forming the backbone of the country all the way across. In terms of natural variety, Chile is unrivalled - in the north lies the Atacama, the world's driest desert, in the middle of the country lies the wine country around the capital Santiago, further south snow-capped volcanoes are reflected in deep blue lakes and in the far south icebergs float in the Arctic fjords and rugged granite mountains rise several kilometres vertically above Tierra del Fuego - the tip of South America. The capital of Chile is Santiago with 5 million inhabitants. The city has a cosmopolitan feel to it and seems quite southern European. The cities are generally modern and laid-back, as is the majority of the population. Standards are high, but the country is still cheap to travel in.