1.
Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
2.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
3.
Cinema of Chile
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Chilean cinema refers to all films produced in Chile or made by Chileans. It had its origins at the start of the 20th century with the first Chilean film screening in 1902, the oldest surviving feature film is El Húsar de la Muerte. and the last silent film was Patrullas de Avanzada. The Chilean film industry struggled in the late 1940s and in the 1950s, the 1960s saw the development of the New Chilean Cinema, with films like Three Sad Tigers, Jackal of Nahueltoro and Valparaíso, Mi Amor. After the 1973 military coup, film production was low, with many working in exile. It increased after the end of the regime in 1989, with many successes, such as Johnny Cien Pesos, Historias de Fútbol. Box office success came in the late 1990s and early 2000s with films like El Chacotero Sentimental, la película, Sexo con Amor, Subterra, later widely surpassed by Stefan v/s Kramer and Sin filtro. On 17 February 1895 entrepreneur Francisco de Paola presented the first Kinetoscope, next year, on 25 August 1896, the first Cinématographe reels were shown to an astounded audience in Santiago. These were the movies that only eight months earlier, the Lumiere Brothers had shown in Paris. In the north of Chile, the Potassium nitrate mining industry created enough wealth to allow cities like Antofagasta, in Iquique, director was enthralled by this new technology and started to create his own short films. On 20 May 1897, he screened the documentary in the Great Philharmonic Hall on Tarapaca Street. In the same year in Santiago, two new venues opened which both featured Edisons Vitascope, less popular than the Cinématographe. In June that year, the Bioscop was also launched as another alternative to the cinematographe, by the end of the year, all these new places would be closed. In 1900, the Apollo Theatre in Santiago exhibited the film Carreras en Viña, the exact date that the films screened and further details of this event remain unknown. In the port city of Valparaíso, the first film ever produced in Chile was launched at the Teatro ODEON on 26 May 1902. Nothing is known of the director, cinematographer or production team. In 1903, Un paseo por playa ancha was filmed in Valparaiso by Maurice Albert Massonnier, the film is split into three parts. First, a huaso charges into the scene, causing some commotion among the people around and this is followed by a scene where the characters eat a Chilean Cazuela. Finally, in the last scene, a fight breaks but is controlled by a guard
4.
2010 Chile earthquake
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It was felt strongly in six Chilean regions, that together make up about 80 percent of the countrys population. According to the United States Geological Survey the cities experiencing the strongest shaking—VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale —were Concepción, Arauco, according to Chiles Seismological Service Concepción experienced the strongest shaking at MM IX. The earthquake was felt in the capital Santiago at MM VII or MM VIII, tremors were felt in many Argentine cities, including Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and La Rioja. Tremors were felt as far north as the city of Ica in southern Peru, the earthquake triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano.26 billion. The earthquake also generated a blackout that affected 93 percent of the Chilean population, President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of catastrophe and sent military troops to take control of the most affected areas. According to official sources,525 people lost their lives,25 people went missing, on 10 March, Swiss Reinsurance Co. estimated that the Chilean quake would cost insurance companies between 4 and 7 billion dollars. The rival German-based Munich Re AG made the same estimate, earthquakes losses to the economy of Chile are estimated at US$15–30 billion. According to the USGS the epicenter of the earthquake was about 3 km off the coast of Pelluhue commune in the Maule Region, Chiles Seismological Service located the quakes epicenter at about 34 km off the coast of Ñuble Province in the Biobío Region. This is 60 km north of Concepción and 170 km south-west of Talca, the earthquake took place along the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, at a location where they converge at a rate of eighty millimeters a year. This earthquake was characterized by a focal mechanism, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American Tectonic Plates. Chile has been at a convergent plate boundary that generates megathrust earthquakes since the Paleozoic era, in historical times the Chilean coast has suffered many megathrust earthquakes along this plate boundary, including the strongest earthquake ever measured, which is the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. Most recently, the boundary ruptured, causing the 2007 Tocopilla earthquake in northern Chile, the segment of the fault zone which ruptured in this earthquake was estimated to be over 700 km long with a displacement of almost 10 meters, or 120 years of accumulated plate movement. It lay immediately north of the 1,000 km segment which ruptured in the earthquake of 1960. Preliminary measurements show that the entire South American Plate moved abruptly westward during the quake, the earthquake also shifted other parts of South America from the Falkland Islands to Fortaleza, Brazil. For example, it moved Argentinas capital of Buenos Aires about one inch to the west, several cities south of Cobquecura were also raised, by up to 3 meters. The maximum recorded peak ground acceleration was at Concepcion, with a value of 0.65 g, an aftershock of 6.2 was recorded 20 minutes after the initial quake. Two more aftershocks of magnitudes 5.4 and 5.6 followed within an hour of the initial quake, the USGS said that a large vigorous aftershock sequence can be expected from this earthquake. By 6 March UTC, more than 130 aftershocks had been registered, shortly after the mainshock seismologists installed a dense network of seismometers along the whole rupture area
5.
Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
6.
Kiosk
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A kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward, today, there are many kiosks in and around the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, and they are still a relatively common sight in Balkan states. The word is now applied to small booths offering goods and services, in the Western hemisphere and in English-speaking countries, a kiosk is also a booth with an open window on one side. Some vendors operate from kiosks, selling small, inexpensive consumables such as newspapers, magazines, lighters, street maps, cigarettes, Live and frozen bait and confections. An information kiosk dispenses free information in the form of maps, pamphlets, an electronic kiosk houses a computer terminal that often employs custom kiosk software designed to function while preventing users from accessing system functions. Indeed, kiosk mode describes such a mode of software operation, computerized kiosks may store data locally, or retrieve it from a computer network. Some computer kiosks provide a free, informational public service, while others serve a commercial purpose, touchscreens, trackballs, computer keyboards, and pushbuttons are all typical input devices for interactive computer kiosk. Touchscreen kiosks are used as industrial appliances, reducing lines, eliminating paper, improving efficiency. Their uses are unlimited from refrigerators to airports, health clubs, movie theaters, a kiosk is an open summer-house or pavilion usually having its roof supported by pillars with screened or totally open walls. As a building type, it was first introduced by the Seljuks as a building attached to the main mosque. This architectural concept gradually evolved into a small yet grand residence used by Ottoman sultans, the most famous examples of which are quite possibly the Tiled Kiosk and Baghdad Kiosk. The former was built in 1473 by Mehmed II at the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, the Baghdad Koshk was also built at the Topkapı Palace in 1638-39, by Sultan Murad IV. The building is domed, offering direct views onto the gardens. European monarchs adopted the building type, stanisław Leszczyński, king of Poland and father-in-law of Louis XV, built kiosks for himself based on his memories of his captivity in Turkey. Todays conservatories incorporate many Muslim elements, although modern art forms have shifted from the art forms that were used in earlier times. The complete letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Clarendon Press, media related to Kiosks at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Pichilemu
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Pichilemu, originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province. The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, such as Ciruelos, Cáhuil and it is located southwest of Santiago, the capital of Chile. Pichilemu had over 13,000 residents as of 2012, the Pichilemu area was long populated by the indigenous Promaucaes. European-Chilean development began in the century, as conquistador Pedro de Valdivia gave Juan Gómez de Almagro the Topocalma encomienda in January 1541. Pichilemu was established as a commune on 22 December 1891, by decree of the President Jorge Montt. Agustín Ross Edwards, a Chilean politician and member of the Ross Edwards family, Pichilemu is home to five of the National Monuments of Chile, Agustín Ross Cultural Centre and Park, the wooden railway station, Estación Pichilemu, El Árbol tunnel, and the Caballo de Agua. Part of the city was declared a Zona Típica by the National Monuments Council, the city is part of District No.35 and is in the ninth senatorial constituency of OHiggins Region electoral division. Pichilemu is home to the beach in OHiggins Region. It is a tourist destination for surfing, windsurfing and funboarding, tourism is the main industry of the city, but forestry and handicrafts are also important. Pichilemu has many expansive dark sand beaches, several surf championships take place in the city each year at Punta de Lobos, which according to Fodors is widely considered the best surfing in South America all year-round. Pichilemu was inhabited by Promaucaes, a tribal group, until the Spanish conquest of Chile. They were hunter-gatherers and fishermen who lived primarily along the Cachapoal, the remaining Promaucaes were assimilated into Chilean society through a process of hispanicisation and mestisation after the conquest of Chile. Aureliano Oyarzún, professor of pathology at University of Chile, investigated pre-Ceramic middens from Pichilemu and his book Crónicas de Pichilemu–Cáhuil was published posthumously, in 1957. José Toribio Medina, who was a writer and historiographer, spent most of his life in Colchagua Province, during the colonial and Republican periods, agriculture was promoted by the government. Many Chilean haciendas were successful during this time, including the Pichileminian Hacienda San Antonio de Petrel. Part of the land where San Antonio de Petrel was created was given by the Captaincy General of Chile to Bartolomé de Rojas y Puebla in 1611, who later acquired more lands in order to establish it. San Antonio de Petrel produced leather, jerky, soles, tallow, San Antonio de Petrel was bordered by properties of Lauriano Gaete and Ninfa Vargas, and Pedro Pavez Polanco. The area around Pichilemu was very densely populated, especially in Cáhuil, Pichilemu has had censuses taken since the 17th century
8.
Dichato
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Dichato is a town along the coast of Chile, part of the municipality of Tomé in the northeast part of Greater Concepción. At the 2002 census it had 3,057 residents, the town was severely damaged in the 2010 Chile earthquake. After the 8.8 magnitude quake and tsunami, roughly 50 people are missing, approximately one hour after the earthquake, teenagers lounging on the beach observed the sea roll out of the horseshoe shaped bay, and immediately ran through town to warn of an impending tsunami. This moved most of the population out of harms way. Many people who had evacuated for the tsunami, returned after the wave, believing it was over. The tsunami was some 10m high, vacation cottages were lifted off their pilings by the tsunami and smashed. Fishing boats were washed hundreds of metres inland, the tsunami at Dichato consisted of 7 waves, the sixth being the largest and most damaging. By early afternoon of the 28th, Chilean government helicopters had started delivering relief supplies
9.
Carabineros de Chile
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Carabiniers of Chile are the Chilean national police force, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to order and create public respect for the laws of the country. They report to the Ministerio de Defensa Nacional through the Undersecretary of Carabiniers, Chile also has an investigative police force, the Investigations Police of Chile, also under the Interior and Public Security Ministry, a Maritime Police also exists for patrol of Chiles coastline. The origins of the Carabiniers can be traced back to night watchmen such as the Dragones de la Reina and other organizations that fulfilled functions such as the watch, later, cities such as Santiago and Valparaíso created their own city police forces. In 1881 the Rural Police was created for the areas of the country. However, the problem with these police services was that they were dependent on local authorities for day-to-day decision making. This led to local officials abusing this power for their own political ends, in 1896 the Policía Fiscal was created to serve the cities. The Carabinier Regiment was then a Chilean Army unit, thus the reason why the Carabiniers of today sport military ranks, in 1908 the Carabiniers School was created, which until 1935 trained all officers and non-commissioned sworn personnel. The organization still carries the name given to it by Ibáñez, in 1929 its official coat of arms - two white crossed carbines in a green shield - was formally adopted. The service in 1930 became one of the mobile police forces in Latin America. By 1933 the Investigations Police of Chile was created in the basis of the investigations service, the roots of todays NCO School began in 1934 when in Santiagos Macul Commune, the services mounted command began training NCOs and enlisted personnel independently. In 1939 the service received its own college, the Police Sciences Academy. The Air Operations Prefecture, the air arm of the service, was raised in 1960,1962 would see it become the first among the Chilean uniformed services to include women into its ranks. The next year, the Children and Fatherland Foundation was formed as its social responsibility arm for troubled kids and preteens. In 1974, formal command of the service was handed over to the Chilean Ministry of National Defense, until 2011, this was the case for the service, from that year onward it is a part of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security. The Basic Training Center, which trains future personnel of the ranks, was created in 1979. Under the current Chilean constitution the Carabiniers are integrated directly into the Armed Forces in a state of emergency to better guarantee the public order and they also have a special armed police unit called the Special Police Operations Group. They travel in heavily armored trucks from which they can spray pressured water to control mobs, the Carabineros have recently replaced their Ruger P90 with the 9mm SIG P220
10.
O'Higgins Region
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The VI Libertador General Bernardo OHiggins Region, often shortened to OHiggins Region, is one of Chiles 15 first order administrative divisions. It is subdivided into three provinces and it is named in honour of Bernardo OHiggins Riquelme, one of Chiles founding fathers. It extends approximately between the parallels of 33°51’ and 35°01’ south latitude, and between the meridian of 70°02’ west longitude and the Pacific Ocean, the capital and largest city of the region is Rancagua. The second major town is San Fernando, in pre-Quaternary times extensive Nothofagus forests covered much of Libertador General Bernardo OHiggins Region. From 9000 BCE to 300 BCE, the humans who inhabited the region moved between the coast and the valley as well as the Andes, at sites such as Pichilemu, Cáhuil and Bucalemu, they left trash deposits or shell middens bearing testimony to their raids. During the Agroalfarero Period, the inhabitants experienced changes in their way of life, the most important being the cultivation of vegetables, from 600 CE onwards, they started cultivating beans, maize, squashes, pumpkins and quinoa. All of these except quinoa and some types of maize required irrigation, during the Colonial Period, the region became dominated, like the rest of the country, by the Spanish, and a system of ranching became predominant. The Libertador General Bernardo OHiggins region contains a part of the rural population. Amongst the highly populated cities, Rancagua stands out for having been transformed, in recent times and it is close being located 87 km south of Santiago. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province as well the Libertador General Bernardo OHiggins Region, the main industrial and export activity takes place at CODELCO’s El Teniente mine, which contributes 7. 7% of Chile’s copper production. The ore is processed at the Sewell and Colón concentrator plants, smelted and refined at Caletones, agriculture contributes 30. 1% of the region’s GDP. One out of four hectares of fruit orchards in Chile is in the Libertador General Bernardo OHiggins Region. The main crops are apples and pears, followed by grapes, plums, kiwis. Manufacturing activity in the region is related to copper mining, agribusiness. One particular growth area is the production of fruit juices and pulp, over the past few years, there has been significant development in the forestry sector, especially plantations of eucalyptus and radiata pine. The region is governed by an intendant, who is appointed by the president, pablo Silva Amaya is the current intendant. The administration of the region rests with the government, which is headed by the intendant. The latter comprises sixteen regional administrators, who are elected indirectly, the provinces are subdivided into 33 communes
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