Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions;
water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation contributing to loss of
biodiversity; soil erosion; desertification
natural hazards: severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling;
signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea
Note: strategic location relative to sea lanes between Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage);
Atacama Desert one of world's driest regions
@Chile:People
Population: 14,161,216 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 29% (female 2,014,877; male 2,099,450)
15-64 years: 64% (female 4,574,947; male 4,529,251)
65 years and over: 7% (female 549,385; male 393,306) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.49% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 20.29 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 5.42 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)