Chile

The capital of Chile is Santiago Wheat, corn, beans, grapes, timber, fish and beef are the common agriculture produce. One of the fun facts about Chile is that it is the second largest producer of salmon in the world. Chile exports fish, fruits, copper, paper and pulp and chemicals. Christianity is the religion followed in Chile Spanish is the official language and it's the most widely spoken language People often entertain friends at home and guests give a small gift as a token of appreciation and thanks. There are 2000 volcanoes in Chile, out of which 50 are active volcanoes.

A massive earthquake destroyed many buildings in Chile in February 2010.

The Andes Mountains are in the eastAndes Mountains

Folk music and dance are popular in Chile.

Chile sits in the southern hemisphere and as such its seasons are generally these: Summer: December - February Fall: March - May Winter: June - August Spring: September - November

The flag consists of two horizontal bands of white (above) and red (below), representing, respectively, the Andean snow and the Indians' blood fallen in their heroic struggle against the Spanish invaders. The flag also has a blue square at the hoist-side end of the white band with a white five-pointed star in the centre. The blue represents Chile's clear blue sky while the white star was the Araucanian Indians coat of arms.

Chileans normally eat four times a day. The first meal of the day is breakfast, which mostly consists of rather light fare including toasted bread with butter and instant coffee with milk. Lunch (served between 1:00 and 2:00 P.M. ) is the big meal of the day. Traditionally two main dishes are served. The first course may be a salad of some kind. A common salad is the ensalada chilena, including sliced onions, chopped and peeled tomatoes, an oil and vinegar dressing, and fresh cilantro (coriander). The second dish generally includes beef or chicken, accompanied by vegetables. Around 5:00 P.M. Chileans take once, an afternoon tea with bread and jam, that often also includes cheeses and palta (avocados). Once, which means "eleven," is evidently named after the British tea time—11:00 A.M. Around 9:00 P.M. most families serve dinner, which is usually a single but substantial dish, most often accompanied with wine grown in the many Central Valley vineyards.

The national dish, porotos granados, for instance, has ingredients characteristic of Indian cooking (corn, squash, and beans), with distinctly Spanish contributions (onion and garlic). As may be expected in a country with an extremely long coast, seafood has a prominent role in local culinary preferences. Traditional Chilean seafood includes locos (abalone), machas (razor clams), erizos (large sea urchins), and cochayuyo (seaweed). Another national delicacy is caldillo de congrio, a soup of conger eel, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, herbs, and spices.

A chamanto is a traditional decorative garment from central Chile, similar to a poncho and woven in silk thread and wool. Its entire contour is finished with ribbon edging. The difference between a chamanto and other ponchos is their reversibility, as both sides — one light, one dark — are fully finished. Traditionally, the dark side of the poncho is used during the day, while its light side is mostly worn at night.Chileponchosilkwool

The chupalla is a traditional Chilean horseman's hat made of straw. Many people in rural areas of Central Chile use it as well. In addition, it is often used when dancing the cueca (a Chilean folk dance) and during Chilean rodeos. The name chupalla comes from achupalla a local name given to a bromelia plant that was used to made chupallas. Today chupallas are made of various types of straw including rice and wheat.Central Chilecueca Chilean rodeosbromeliaricewheat