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.
Paranal Observatory
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By total light-collecting area, it is the largest optical-infrared observatory in the Southern hemisphere, worldwide, it is second to the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. The Very Large Telescope, the largest telescope on Paranal, is composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes, in addition, the four main telescopes can combine their light to make a fifth instrument, the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. Four auxiliary telescopes of 1.8 m each are part of the VLTI to make it available when the main telescopes are being used for other projects. The site also houses the 2.6 m VLT Survey Telescope and 4.0 m VISTA survey telescope with wider fields of view for surveying large areas of sky uniformly. From an aerial view of the Paranal Oberservatory, the four units of the VLT with their four small. The Survey Telescope, VST, is adjacent to the VLT. The Very Large Telescope consists of four 8. 2-metre telescopes operating in the visible and these telescopes, along with four smaller auxiliary telescopes, are also combined to operate as an optical interferometer on certain nights of the year. All of the 8. 2-metre telescopes have adaptive optics and a suite of instruments. VISTA is the Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, a 4. 0-metre telescope with a field of view. It was built close to ESOs VLT by a consortium of 18 universities from the United Kingdom, VISTA was handed over to the European Southern Observatory in December 2009. The VLT Survey Telescope or VST is a 2. 6-metre telescope with a wide field imager intended to aid the four Very Large Telescope in their scientific aims, the Next-Generation Transit Survey is an exoplanet-survey facility located a few kilometers from the main peak. It consists of an array of twelve 0. 2-meter robotic telescopes with a large field of view of 96 square degrees or several hundred times the area of the full moon. The survey aims to discover numerous super-Earths and Neptune-sized planets around nearby stars, NGTS is managed by a partnership of seven academic institutions from Chile, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and its design is based on the SuperWASP project. Science operations began in early 2015, as well as the telescopes, control buildings and maintenance facilities, Paranal has a Residencia which provides accommodation for staff and visitors. This is located 200 m lower and 3 km from the telescopes and it is built half into the mountain with the concrete coloured to blend into the landscape. It has gym facilities, a pool, a restaurant. The construction was decorated by the Chilean architect Paula Gutiérrez Erlandsen, the VLT hotel, the Residencia, served as a backdrop for part of the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace. The observatorys facilities were used to stage the Pacific Alliances fourth summit in June 2012, on 14 March 2013, Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, accompanied by his wife, Princess Mary, visited ESO’s Paranal Observatory, as part of an official visit to Chile
3.
Antofagasta
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Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about 1,100 kilometres north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region, according to the 2012 census, the city has a population of 345,420. The city of Antofagasta is closely linked to mining activity, being a mining area of the country. The last decade has been a growth in the areas of construction, retail, hotel accommodations, population growth. Antofagasta has the highest GDP per capita of Chile,37,000 USD, currently there are several theories to explain the origin of the name Antofagasta. A clear consensus regarding the origin of the word has not yet been determined. It is probably a word that comes from the southern Cacan anto, faya and gasta. However, it says the name Antofagasta is due to a decision by Manuel Mariano Melgarejo, in Chile, Antofagasta is known as La Perla del Norte, for its historical and economic importance. On 18 September 1866, José Santos Ossa and Francisco Puelma achieved the award of the concession of nitrate lands, the exploring of the Chilean miners found rich deposits of saltpeter in the field of Salar del Carmen, to the east of the present Antofagasta. Agreed to form the Sociedad Exploradora del Desierto de Atacama, after the formation of the company, began to fill with what was called La Chimba. On 19 March 1868, the Melbourne Clark Company was established, after the integration of Chilean, after the earthquake in Iquique and Oprah Jiffy of 13 August 1868, it was necessary to give legal recognition to the Chimba as a mining town. On 22 October 1868, the population was established and the port under the name La Chimba. Later the city was renamed Antofagasta, the first official map of the population and the port of Antofagasta was designed by Jose Santos Prada on 14 September 1869. This document set out the grounds of the Melbourne Clark Company, plus 17 blocks, on 8 May 1872, Antofagasta was appointed by the Bolivian Government as Puerto Mayor, open trade worldwide. On 27 November 1873, the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta signed a contract with the government of Bolivia and this contract was not ratified by the Congress of Bolivia, which was then analyzed negotiations with Chile. In 1873 Bolivia signed a treaty of defensive alliance with Peru. This would be used as an argument 5 years later in Chile, the secret alliance, forbade Bolivia from signing a border treaty with Chile, without consulting with Peru. However, in 1874 Chile and Bolivia signed a border treaty, one of its points was not to impose new taxes on individuals, industries and Chilean capital for 25 years
4.
Sierra Gorda
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The Sierra Gorda is an ecological region centered on the northern third of the state of Querétaro and extending into the neighboring states of Guanajuato, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí. The area is rugged with high steep mountains and deep canyons. As part of the Huasteca Karst, it contains many formations due to erosion of limestone. The area is valued for its wide diversity of plant and animal life. This is due to the blocking of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, which generally makes the east side fairly moist. Most of the region has been protected in two biosphere reserves, with the one centered in Querétaro established in 1997 and the one centered in Guanajuato established in 2007. The Sierra Gorda is considered to be the far west of the La Huasteca region culturally, the region is on a branch of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range and consists of a series of mountain chains that run northwest to southeast, formed 240 million years ago. Most are made of limestone, formed by sea beds from the Jurassic, later there were intrusions of volcanic rock, especially in the eastern portion in Hidalgo state, from which come the mineral deposits of the area. The limestone has been affected by erosion to form the Huasteca Karst, and the area contains a number of caverns. All of the Sierra Gorda is marked by very rugged terrain, altitudes range from just 300 meters above sea level in the Río Santa María Canyon in Jalpan to 3,100 m asl at the Cerro de la Pingüica in Pinal de Amoles. The most important elevation in the Hidalgo area is the Cerro Cangandhó which has an altitude of 2,820 m asl, rainfall also varies greatly from 350 mm to 2,000 mm per year. The micro-environments of the range from conifer forests, oak forests, mostly found on mountain peaks, banana. On the east side, there are deciduous forests, on the west side, bordering the Mexican Plateau, there are desert and semi desert conditions, with a variety of cacti and arid scrub brush. The wide variations of altitude and rainfall favor a wide variety of flora, there are three main rivers in the Sierra Gorda, all of which are part of the Pánuco River basin. These are the Santa María River, the Extoraz or Peñamiller River, all three pass through deep canyons and tend to form borders between the states and municipalities of the region. Santa María marks part of the border between Querétaro and San Luis Potosí, and the Moctezuma River marks part of the border between Querétaro and Hidalgo, the Tula and Moctezuma Rivers meet in the Sierra Gorda of Hidalgo. Here, the Moctezuma River Canyon extends for twelve km and rises 480 meters above the floor, the climate of the region depends on altitude and the fact that the mountains form a natural barrier against the prominent source of moisture, the Gulf of Mexico. The east side of the mountains gets significant more rainfall than the west, forests and even rainforests are found in the east, while the west is dominated by desert and near desert conditions
5.
Senate of Chile
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The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chiles bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of thirty-eight directly elected senators and these serve eight-year terms, with half of them being replaced every fourth year. They must be eligible to vote, have completed school, or its equivalent. The Senate sessions at the new National Congress located in the city of Valparaíso that replaced the old National Congress located in downtown Santiago. Previously, according to the Constitution of 1980, designated or institutional senators were appointed to the chamber, two former heads of state, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Augusto Pinochet, were installed as senators for life. Pinochet later resigned from position and Frei lost his seat in the 2005 reform. However, Frei remained in the Senate by winning an elective seat, the Senate of Chile was created in 1812 to support the formulations of policies of the Government Junta. Since then it has undergone several constitutional reorganizations that have altered the scope of its powers, its composition. Created by Article 7 of the Provisional Constitutional Manual of 1812 and it was composed of seven titular members and three alternate members and was supposed to serve as a counterbalance to the executive power of the Government Junta. The senators were nominated by the provinces in agreement with the central government. It functioned from November,1812 to January,1814, when it was reorganized to better respond to the problems caused by the military defeats at the hands of the advancing Spanish Army. Created by Article 13 of the Provisional Government Manual of 1814, as its predecessor, it was composed of seven titular members nominated by the provinces in lists of three from which they were selected by the Supreme Director. It functioned from March to July,1814, when the Spanish Army captured Santiago, created by Title III of the Constitution of 1818. It was composed of five members and five alternate members selected directly by the Supreme Director. Key to Senate classes by regions, Class 1 consists of, Class 2 consists of, -the 20 current senators whose seats expire in March 2022
6.
Llullaillaco
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Llullaillaco is a dormant stratovolcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of high volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert. It is the second highest active volcano in the world after Ojos del Salado, Llullaillaco was constructed during two different phases in the Pleistocene-Holocene by dacitic lava flows. The oldest rocks are about 1.5 million years old, about 150,000 years ago, the volcanos southeastern flank collapsed and generated a debris avalanche that reached as far as 25 kilometres from the summit. The youngest dated rocks were erupted 5,600 ±250 years ago in the summit region, the mountains first recorded climb was in 1950, but traces of earlier climbs, and a number of archeological sites, were found on the mountain and at its feet. With an archeological site at the region, Llullaillaco is the highest archeological site in the world. There, in 1999, the remains of three children, known as the Children of Llullaillaco, were found. They are presumed to have been human sacrifices, the name Llullaillaco is derived from the Kunza word llulla meaning false, lie or deceitful and yaku or llaco meaning water. This name probably refers to the meltwater from snow, which flows down the slopes, normally such mountains are sources for water. Volcanism in the Andes is caused by the subduction of the Nazca Plate, the Nazca Plate subducts at a speed of 7–9 centimetres per year and the Antarctic Plate at a speed of 2 centimetres per year. The formation of magma results from the release of water and other material from the subducting plate. The volcanic zones are separated by areas where the plate subducts at a flatter angle. About 178 volcanoes are found in the Andes,60 of which have active in historical times. In addition, large calderas and monogenetic volcanoes exist in the Andes, Llullaillaco is part of the Central Volcanic Zone. At least 44 volcanic centres with historical activity and 18 large caldera-forming volcanoes have been identified in the Central Volcanic Zone, volcanism in the Central Volcanic Zone mostly occurs on the Altiplano and the Cordillera Occidental. A number of volcanoes there reach heights of over 6,000 metres above sea level, large Miocene ignimbrites that cover large surfaces are also part of the regional geology. Llullaillaco is located about 300 kilometres east of the Peru-Chile Trench, the Wadati-Benioff zone is 180 kilometres deep. Llullaillaco is located in the northwestern Argentine Andes, towards the end of the Puna
7.
Guanaco
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The guanaco, a camelid native to South America, stands between 1.0 and 1.2 m at the shoulder and weighs 90 to 140 kg. Its color varies very little, ranging from a brown to dark cinnamon. Guanacos have grey faces and small, straight ears, the name guanaco comes from the South American Quechua word huanaco. The guanaco is a native to the mountainous regions of South America. They are found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia and Chile, in Argentina and Chile, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places such as the Torres del Paine National Park, and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. In these areas, they have more robust populations, since grazing competition from livestock is limited, estimates, as of 2011, place their numbers at 400,000 to 600,000. A small introduced population exists on Staats Island in the Falkland Islands, guanacos live in herds composed of females, their young, and a dominant male. While reproductive groups tend to remain small, often containing no more than 10 adults, when they feel threatened, guanacos alert the herd to flee with a high-pitched, bleating call. The male usually runs behind the herd to defend them and they can run at 56 km per hour, often over steep and rocky terrain. A guanacos typical lifespan is 20 to 25 years, guanacos are one of the largest wild mammal species found in South America. Natural predators include cougars, jaguars, and foxes, the guanaco has thicker skin on its neck, a trait also found in its domestic counterpart, the llama and in its relatives, the wild vicuña and domesticated alpaca. This protects its neck from predator attacks, bolivians use the neck-skin of these animals to make shoes, flattening and pounding the skin to be used for the soles. In Chile, hunting is allowed only in Tierra del Fuego, between 2007 and 2012,13,200 guanacos were legally hunted in Tierra del Fuego. Mating season occurs between November and February, during which males often fight violently to establish dominance and breeding rights, eleven-and-a-half months later, a single chulengo is born. Chulengos are able to immediately after birth. Male chulengos are chased off from the herd by the dominant male around one year of age, although the species is still considered wild, around 300 guanacos are in US zoos and around 200 are registered in private herds. Guanacos are the parent species of the domesticated llama, guanacos are often found at high altitudes, up to 4,000 meters above sea level, except in Patagonia, where the southerly latitude means ice covers the vegetation at these altitudes. For guanacos to survive in the low oxygen levels found at high altitudes
8.
European Southern Observatory
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The European Southern Observatory is a 16-nation intergovernmental research organization for ground-based astronomy. Created in 1962, ESO has provided astronomers with state-of-the-art research facilities, the organisation employs about 730 staff members and receives annual member state contributions of approximately €131 million. Its observatories are located in northern Chile, ESO has built and operated some of the largest and most technologically advanced telescopes. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array observes the universe in the millimetre and submillimetre wavelength ranges and it was completed in March 2013 in an international collaboration by Europe, North America, East Asia and Chile. Currently under construction is the European Extremely Large Telescope and it will use a 39. 3-metre-diameter segmented mirror, and become the worlds largest optical reflecting telescope when operational in 2024. ESOs observing facilities have made discoveries and produced several astronomical catalogues. Its findings include the discovery of the most distant gamma-ray burst, in 2004, the VLT allowed astronomers to obtain the first picture of an extrasolar planet orbiting a brown dwarf 173 light-years away. The idea that European astronomers should establish a large observatory was broached by Walter Baade. It was pursued by Oort, who gathered a group of astronomers in Leiden to consider it on June 21 that year, immediately thereafter, the subject was further discussed at the Groningen conference in the Netherlands. On January 26,1954, an ESO declaration was signed by astronomers from six European countries expressing the wish that a joint European observatory be established in the southern hemisphere. At the time, all reflector telescopes with an aperture of 2 metres or more were located in the northern hemisphere. The decision to build the observatory in the southern hemisphere resulted from the necessity of observing the southern sky, although it was initially planned to set up telescopes in South Africa, tests from 1955 to 1963 demonstrated that a site in the Andes was preferable. On November 15,1963 Chile was chosen as the site for ESOs observatory, the decision was preceded by the ESO Convention, signed 5 October 1962 by Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Otto Heckmann was nominated as the organisations first director general on 1 November 1962, a preliminary proposal for a convention of astronomy organisations in these five countries was drafted in 1954. Although some amendments were made in the document, the convention proceeded slowly until 1960 when it was discussed during that years committee meeting. The new draft was examined in detail, and a member of CERN highlighted the need for a convention between governments. The convention and government involvement became pressing due to rising costs of site-testing expeditions. The final 1962 version was adopted from the CERN convention
9.
Extremely Large Telescope
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The European Extremely Large Telescope is an astronomical observatory and the worlds largest optical/near-infrared extremely large telescope now under construction. Part of the European Southern Observatory, it is located on top of Cerro Armazones in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the observatory aims to gather 13 times more light than the largest optical telescopes existing in 2014, and be able to correct for atmospheric distortions. It has around 256 times the light gathering area of the Hubble Space Telescope and, according to the E-ELTs specifications, the facility is expected to take 11 years to construct. Construction work on the E-ELT site started in June 2014, by December 2014, ESO had secured over 90% of the total funding and authorized construction of the telescope to start, which will cost around one billion Euro for the first construction phase. First light is planned for 2024, on 26 April 2010, the European Southern Observatory Council selected Cerro Armazones, Chile, as the baseline site for the planned E-ELT. Other sites that were under discussion included Cerro Macon, Salta, in Argentina, Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, on the Canary Islands, and sites in South Africa, Morocco, and Antarctica. Early designs included a primary mirror with a diameter of 42 metres and area of about 1,300 m2. However, in 2011 a proposal was put forward to reduce its size by 13% to 978 m2, for a 39.3 m diameter primary mirror and a 4.2 m diameter secondary mirror. It reduced projected costs from 1.275 billion to 1.055 billion euros, the ESO Council endorsed the revised baseline design in June 2011 and expected a construction proposal for approval in December 2011. Funding was subsequently included in the 2012 budget for initial work to begin in early 2012, the project received preliminary approval in June 2012. ESO approved the start of construction in December 2014, with over 90% funding of the nominal budget secured, the design phase of the 5-mirror anastigmat was fully funded within the ESO budget. With the 2011 changes in the design, the construction cost was estimated to be €1.055 billion. The start of operations is planned for 2024, the ESO focused on the current design after a feasibility study concluded the proposed 100 metres diameter Overwhelmingly Large Telescope would cost €1.5 billion, and be too complex. Both current fabrication technology and road transportation constraints limit single mirrors to being roughly 8 metres in a single piece, the E-ELT will use a similar design, as well as techniques to work around atmospheric distortion of incoming light, known as adaptive optics. A 40-metre-class mirror will allow the study of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. The E-ELT is the highest priority in the European planning activities for research infrastructures, such as the Astronet Science Vision and Infrastructure Roadmap, the first three mirrors are curved, and form a three mirror anastigmat design for excellent image quality over the 10 arcminute field of view. The fourth and fifth mirrors are flat, and provide adaptive optics correction for atmospheric distortions, the surface of the 39-metre primary mirror will be composed of 798 hexagonal segments. In January 2017, ESO awarded the contract for the fabrication of the 4608 edge sensors to the FAMES consortium and these sensors can measure relative positions to an accuracy of a few nanometres, the most accurate ever used in a telescope
Chile
Antofagasta
