Languages: Spanish
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95.2% male: 95.4% female: 95% (1995 est.)
Government Chile
Country name: Republic of Chile conventional short form: Government type: republic
Capital: Santiago
Administrative divisions: 13 regions (regiones, singular - region);
Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo, Antofagasta, Araucania,
Atacama, Bio-Bio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los
Lagos, Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana
(Santiago), Tarapaca, Valparaiso note: the US does not recognize claims
to Antarctica
Independence: 18 September 1810 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 September (1810)
Constitution: 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981, amended 30
July 1989, 1993, and 1997
Legal system: based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction note: Chile is in the process of completely overhauling its criminal justice system; a new, US-style adversarial system is being gradually implemented throughout the country