Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean
and South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru

30 00 S, 71 00 W

South America

total: 756,950 sq km
land: 748,800 sq km
water: 8,150 sq km
note: includes Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and Isla Sala y Gomez

slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana

total: 6,171 km
border countries: Argentina 5,150 km, Bolivia 861 km, Peru 160 km

6,435 km

contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200/350 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

temperate; desert in north; Mediterranean in central region;
cool and damp in south

low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged Andes
in east

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,962 m

copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious
metals, molybdenum, hydropower

arable land: 5%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 18%
forests and woodland: 22%
other: 55% (1993 est.)

12,650 sq km (1993 est.)

severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis

air pollution from industrial and
vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

strategic location relative to sea lanes between
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake
Passage); Atacama Desert is one of world's driest regions