Chile

A three-year-old Marxist government was overthrown in 1973 by a dictatorial military regime led by Augusto PINOCHET, which ruled until a freely elected president was installed in 1990. Sound economic policies, implemented by the PINOCHET dictatorship, led to unprecedented growth in 1991-97 and helped secure the country's commitment to a democratic and representative government.

Two lively and contrasting cultural strains predominate in Chile: the cosmopolitan culture of the affluent urban population and the popular culture of the peasants, which is predominantly Spanish but contains traces of Araucanian heritage. The latter influences are strongest in Chilean music and dance. Chile has a flourishing literary tradition and has produced two Nobel Prize winners in literature, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, both poets.

Lonely Planet
World Factbook 2002