M ille r Pack your bags! We’re headed to Chile. On this whirlwind tour, you’ll learn all about the country’s landscape, culture, people, and more. We’ll explore Chile’s dry deserts, visit a volcano, and take a trip to Easter Island. We’ll also see ancient murals and try an empanada pastry. A special section introduces Chile’s capital, language, population, and flag. Hop on board and take a fun-filled look at your world. chile Read all the books in the Country Explorers series: Argentina Cuba India Kenya Philippines South Korea Australia Egypt Indonesia Madagascar Poland United Kingdom Brazil France Iran Mexico Puerto Rico Venezuela Chile Ghana Israel Nigeria Russia Vietnam China Greece Italy Norway Saudi Arabia Costa Rica Iceland Jamaica Pakistan South Africa

007–010 GRL: N* *Estimated THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Jennifer A. Miller

s Lerner Publications Company • Minneapolis Copyright © 2011 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Lerner Publications Company A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.

Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Miller, Jennifer A. Chile / by Jennifer A. Miller p. cm. – (Country explorers) Includes index. ISBN–13: 978–0–7613–5319–5 (lib. bdg. : alk. Paper) 1. Chile—Juvenile literature. I. Title. F3058.5.M55 2011 983—dc22 2009031515

Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – VI – 7/15/10 2 Table of Contents

Welcome! 4 Family Life 30 From Ocean to Mountain 6 Schooling 32 Volcanoes 8 Game Time 34 Mining 10 Outdoor Fun 36 Farming the Valley 12 Wildlife 38 Food 14 The Arts 40 Back in Time 16 Crafts 42 Chilean People 18 The Flag of Chile 44 Speaking Spanish 20 Fast Facts 45 Religion 22 Glossary 46 Holidays 24 To Learn More 47 The Busy City 26 Index 48 Crowded Homes 28

3 Welcome!

Chile Let’s travel to Chile! Chile is the longest and narrowest country in the world. On a map, it looks like a string bean.

Chile sits on the southern end of South America. Peru and Bolivia lie to the north. Chile’s eastern neighbor is Argentina. The Pacific Ocean touches the west and south sides of Chile.

The Pacific Ocean meets the shore on Chile’s long coast.

4

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Valparaiso URUGUAY Santiago CHILE Y E L L l a i m a L A s v O l c a n O V ARGENTINA n i

acOnca g u a a r t B . í n O B í O u R L . O ATLANTIC A m PACIFIC R s T e OCEAN N E d OCEAN LAGO C n L l a n q u i h u e a

c h i l O É ISLAND mountain desert volcano country’s capital

miles 0 200 400 T i e r r a D e l f u e g O 0 200 400 (ARGENTINA) kilOmeters Snow dusts the peaks of the Andes Mountains in southern Chile.

From Ocean to Mountain Chile’s land gets higher from the west to the east. High plains, or flat areas, lie just east of the coast. The steep Andes Mountains stand along the eastern border.

6 From north to south, the land changes wildly. In the north is the Atacama Map Whiz Quiz Desert. This northern desert can go Take a look at the map on page years without getting rain. In Chile’s 5. Trace the outline of Chile center are lakes, rivers, and volcanoes. onto a sheet of paper. Can you Southern Chile has thick forests. This find the Pacific Ocean? Mark this part of your map with a W for area also has many islands. west. Next, find the country of Argentina. Mark it with an E for east. Pick out two colors. Color Argentina with one. Use the other for the water in and around Chile.

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest desert in the world.

7 Volcanoes Chile lies on the Ring of Fire. This area includes the coasts of many countries that touch the Pacific Ocean. It is called the Ring of Fire for its many volcanoes and earthquakes. Chile has more than two thousand volcanoes. About fifty of them are active. This means they send out smoke and ash. Ojos del Salado in Chile is the world’s tallest active volcano. It is 22,664 feet (6,908 meters) high.

Llaima Volcano in central Chile erupted in 2008.

8 8 Ojos del Salado is a big volcano in northern Chile.

Volcanoes can create disasters if they erupt, or blow up. But they can also be useful. They heat the water nearby. Chile uses the steam and heated water for energy.

9 The Flag of Chile Chile’s flag is white, blue, and red with a white star. The white stripe represents snow on the Andes Mountains. The white star is for progress and honor. The blue stands for the sky. And the red represents the blood shed for independence.

44 FAST FACTS Full Country Name: Republic of Chile Animals and Their Habitats: fox, Area: 292,260 square miles (756,950 frog, hare, lizard, mountain cat, puma, square kilometers), or a little bigger than rhea, toad, weasel, wolf (forests); alpaca, Texas Andean condor, flamingo, hummingbird, llama, Magellan conure (mountains); Main Landforms: the Andes mountain pelican, penguin, petrel (coast); coatis, range; the Atacama Desert; the geyser goat, rabbit, rat, red hummingbird, seal El Tatio; the lake Lago Llanquihue; the (islands); congrio, crab, lobster, mussel, islands Chiloé, Tierra del Fuego, and oyster, scallop, sole, swordfish (ocean) Easter Capital City: Santiago Major Rivers: Aconcagua, Bío-Bío Official Language: Spanish Population: about 16,770,000

45 GLOSSARY ancient: from a long time in the past shaman: a person believed to talk with capital: a city where the government is spirits and use magic to treat the sick located slum: an area of a city where low-income continent: any one of seven large areas of citizens live land. The continents are Africa, Antarctica, traditional: something that people in a Asia, Australia, Europe, North American, particular culture pass on to one another and South America. volcano: an opening in Earth’s surface culture: the way of life, ideas, and through which hot, melted rock shoots customs of a particular group of people up. Volcano can also refer to the hill or desert: a dry, sandy region mountain of ash and rock that builds up around the opening. map: a drawing or chart of all or part of Earth or the sky mountain: a part of Earth’s surface that rises high into the sky plain: a large area of flat land plateau: a large area of high, level land religion: a system of belief and worship

46 TO LEARN MORE Books Geographia: Chile Holiday, Jane. Exploring Chile with the http://www.geographia.com/chile Five Themes of Geography. New York: Read about Chile’s beautiful land, history PowerKids Press, 2005. Chile’s geography, and culture, and the islands. including desert areas, plains, volcanoes, Time for Kids: Around the World: Chile and rain forests, is presented. http://www.timeforkids.com/ Kwek, Karen. Welcome to Chile. TFK/teachers/aw/wr/main/ Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 2004. Learn 0,28132,1113147,00.html more about Chile’s religion, people, food, This fun site includes a sightseeing guide arts, sports, and history. and some common lingo.

Websites Easter Island: Land of Giant Stones and Mysteries http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/ articles/geography/easterisland1.htm This site shares some fun facts and asks some interesting questions about the mysterious Easter Island.

47 Index animals, 16, 38, 39 map of Chile, 5 arts and crafts, 19, 24, 30, 40, 42 mining, 10, 11 cities, 26–29 people, 16–19, 22, 23 families, 15, 21, 30–31 religion, 22, 23 farming, 12, 13 food, 13–15 sports, 33–37 holidays, 24, 25, 41 volcanoes, 7–9 language, 20, 21

The images in this book are used with the permission of: © Uros Raybar/Dreamstime.com, p. 4; © Andreviegas/Dreamstime.com, p. 6; © Shargaljut/ Dreamstime.com, p. 7; © STR/AFP/Getty Images, p. 8; © Dirk Sigmund/Dreamstime.com, p. 9; © Charles Bowman/Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images, p. 10; © MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images, pp. 11, 24; © John Eastcott And Yva Momatiuk/National Geographic/Getty Images, p. 12; © John Warburton-Lee Photography/Alamy, p. 13; © James Baigrie/Riser/Getty Images, p. 14; © David R. Frazier Photolibrary, Inc./Alamy, pp. 15, 18, 20; © age fotostock/SuperStock, pp. 16, 36; © Raphael Chay/Dreamstime.com, p. 17; © imagebroker/Alamy, p. 19 (left); © Joel Sartore/National Geographic/Getty Images, p. 19 (right); © Robert Harding Picture Library Ltd/Alamy, p. 22; REUTERS/Eliseo Fernandez, p. 23; © Cephas Picture Library/Alamy, p. 25; © King Ho Yim/Dreamstime.com, p. 26; © Paul Kennedy/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images, p. 27; REUTERS/Martin Thomas, p. 28; © Fernando Zabala/Alamy, p. 29; © The Photolibrary Wales/Alamy, p. 30; © ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images, p. 31; © Index Stock Imagery/Photolibrary, p. 32; © Lonely Planet/ SuperStock, pp. 33, 41; © Lee Foster/Alamy, p. 34; © David Noton/The Image Bank/Getty Images, p. 35; © Celso Diniz/Alamy, p. 37; © George F. Mobley/ National Geographic/Getty Images, p. 38; © ZSSD/SuperStock, p. 39; REUTERS/Sergio Perez, p. 40; © mediacolor’s/Alamy, p. 42; © Bethune Carmichael/ Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images, p. 43; © Laura Westlund/Independent Picture Service, p. 44. Illustrations by © Bill Hauser/Independent Picture Service.

Cover: © Rich Thompson/Workbook Stock/Getty Images

48 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK M ille r Pack your bags! We’re headed to Chile. On this whirlwind tour, you’ll learn all about the country’s landscape, culture, people, and more. We’ll explore Chile’s dry deserts, visit a volcano, and take a trip to Easter Island. We’ll also see ancient murals and try an empanada pastry. A special section introduces Chile’s capital, language, population, and flag. Hop on board and take a fun-filled look at your world. chile Read all the books in the Country Explorers series: Argentina Cuba India Kenya Philippines South Korea Australia Egypt Indonesia Madagascar Poland United Kingdom Brazil France Iran Mexico Puerto Rico Venezuela Chile Ghana Israel Nigeria Russia Vietnam China Greece Italy Norway Saudi Arabia Costa Rica Iceland Jamaica Pakistan South Africa

007–010 GRL: N* *Estimated