Sandwiched between the Andes and the southern Pacific, Chile essentially consists of narrow coastal plains in western South America. Lengthy yet narrow would be right way to describe Chile, which at its widest point is only 430 km, yet at 4, 630 km in length is the longest country in the world.
Sharing its borders with three countries: Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, Chile consists of the Atacama desert region in the north, which is the driest point on the planet, to the icy islands of the Drake Passage bordering Antarctica. The southern part of the country is also heavily wooded in comparison with the north.
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The Atacama region of Northern Chile is by far, the most well known part of the country. Annual precipitation here averages 0.2 mm. Atacama has what is known as a double rain shadow: The Andes block out the moister from the east, and the coastal mountains block it from the west, resulting in an absolutely sterile area.
Experiments conducted by NASA showed that there were absolutely no life forms of any sort in parts of the desert, due to the complete absence of water. However, despite its dryness, the Atacama Desert has very rich mineral deposits, and parts of it are heavily mined.
In the south, where the Andes thin out, and the coastal mountains are non-existent, there are large areas of temperate rain forests, rich in both flora and fauna. This area is also rich in agriculture, as is the central Valley, around the capital city of Santiago.
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