_#_Climate: temperate; desert in north; cool and damp in south

_#_Terrain: low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged Andes in east

_#_Natural resources: copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum

_#_Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 16%; forest and woodland 21%; other 56%; includes irrigated 2%

_#_Environment: subject to severe earthquakes, active volcanism, tsunami; Atacama Desert one of world's driest regions; desertification

_#_Note: strategic location relative to sea lanes between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

_*People #_Population: 13,286,620 (July 1991), growth rate 1.5% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)