Long-form name: Republic of Chile

Type: republic

Capital: Santiago

Administrative divisions: 13 regions (regiones, singular--region); Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo, Antofagasta, Araucania, Atacama, Biobio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Magallanes y Antartica Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana, Tarapaca, Valparaiso

Independence: 18 September 1810 (from Spain)

Constitution: 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981; amended 30 July 1989

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

National holiday: Independence Day, 18 September (1810)

Executive branch: president, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consisting of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or Chamber of Deputies

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Patricio AYLWIN (since 11 March 1990)

Political parties and leaders: National Renovation (RN), Sergio Jarpa, president; Radical Party (PR), Enrique Silva Cimma; Social Democratic Party (PSD), Eugenio Velasco; Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Andres Zaldivar; Party for Democracy, Ricardo Lagos; Socialist Party, Clodomiro Almeyda; other parties are Movement of United Popular Action (MAPU), Victor Barrueto; Christian Left (IC), Luis Maira; Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), Volodia Teitelboim; Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) is splintered, no single leader; several leftist and far left parties formed a new coalition in November 1988 with Luis Maira as president; the 17-party Concertation of Parties for Democracy backed Patricio Aylwin's presidential candidacy in December 1989

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18

Elections: President--last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December 1993 or January 1994); results--Patricio Aylwin 55.2%, Hernan Buchi 29.4%, other 15.4%; Senate--last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December 1993 or January 1994); seats--(47 total, 38 elected) 17-party Concertation of Parties for Democracy 22; Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December 1993 or January 1994); seats--(120 total) Concertation of Parties for Democracy 69

Communists: 120,000 when PCCh was legal in 1973; 50,000 (est.) active militants

Other political or pressure groups: revitalized university student federations at all major universities dominated by opposition political groups; labor--United Labor Central (CUT) includes trade unionists from the country's five-largest labor confederations; Roman Catholic Church

Member of: CCC, CIPEC, ECOSOC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, LAIA, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Octavio ERRAZURIZ; Chancery at 1732 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 785-1746; there are Chilean Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco; US--Ambassador Charles A. GILLESPIE, Jr.; Embassy at Codina Building, 1343 Agustinas, Santiago (mailing address is APO Miami 34033); telephone p56o (2) 710133 or 710190, 710326, 710375

Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; there is a blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of the white band; the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center; design was based on the US flag

NOTE: The information regarding Chile on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Chile Government 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Chile Government 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.