Welcome to Chile,
“Where the world ends”!
Chile, as you may know, is the longest and southest country in the world.
Chile, as you may know, is the longest and southest country in the world.
It’s 4. 329 km length from north to south is a tenth of the earth’s circumference. It is also the narrowest countries, with an average width of only 180 km (between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean), meaning that you can go from the mountains to the beach in 3 hours, Isn’t it amazing? In the north, Chile borders with Perú, Bolivia on the Northeast and Argentina on the east and, of course, on the west with the wonderful but cold Pacific Ocean.
Climate is quite diverse. Varies from hot, arid and sunny in the north to cold, damp and snowy in the south. Chile is home to some of the world’s’ natural wonders, The Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world, the Andes Mountains and the Patagonia, the most southern tip of the world, where you can find the most amazing penguin colonies.
Among Latin American countries, Chile is considered the safest one, with stable public institutions, the best healthcare and social welfare of the region and modern infrastructure.
Spanish is our official language in Chile, but there are also quite a few indigenous languages such as Mapudungun, spoken by the Mapuche people of the Araucanía (in the south) and Aymara, spoken by the Aymara people in the north of the country. Chile, also known as “The Country of Poets”, is the birthplace of famous artists, mainly in writing and poetry, such as Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945, and Pablo Neruda, who received it in 1971. Other renowned Chilean writers are Nicanor Parra, Isabel Allende and Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Football or soccer is the most popular sport in Chile. People of all ages play soccer in the streets or anywhere there is a ball. The Chilean soccer team, locally known as “La Roja”, has been champion of the America Cup twice, in 2015 and 2016. Have you heard about Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal?
Family plays a central role in Chileans life. Chilean families are very close, love to spend time with each other, doing activities all together. It might be very common to hear that Sundays are family days. In the Chilean culture is also very important to respect parents.
The school year in Chile lasts from March until December, from Monday to Friday. In almost every school in the country students wear uniforms, both in public and private schools. Over the year, students study across a variety of subjects with the same group of classmates. The school is a place where you may enjoy your time, meet fiends, do some different activities and have fun, besides studying, of course!
As you may see, Chile is a very cool and safe place for being an exchange student, with a diversity of climate, landscapes and culture.
“Hello, my name is Morgane and I am from the Netherlands. Having lived in Chile as an exchange student was the best thing that ever happened to me, I created a very close relationship with my host family who accepted me very quickly into their home and treated me as their own daughter (…) It was an unforgettable year with a lot of beautiful memories. I cannot wait to go back and do it all over again”.
“Hello, my name is Katrine and I am from Denmark. I wanted to go to Chile to learn about a different culture and try to get an understanding of the world around me. In Chile, I felt very welcomed by everyone around me and was always met with an openness from the people who ended up turning into lifelong friends and family. Chile beholds many different beauties and has every type of landscape that one could only dream of”.
