Gregory's ServerIn this week's #geoweirdness thread we again explore the oddness of a specific country and what a country it is.
Today we bring youβ¦ Chile π¨π±
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4/ π¨π± Chileβs territory also includes several Pacific islands, the most famous of which is Easter Island. Known as Rapa Nui by its indigenous Polynesian population, itβs internationally famous for the large monumental statues (moai) dotted around the island πΏπΏπΏ Annexed in 1888, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the worldβs remotest inhabited islands and has a population of nearly 8,000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island 6/ Itβs not just offshore islands and diverse natural geography that make Chile π¨π± geoweird, it also stands out regionally for its history full of territorial disputes and conflicts. Before working through some key cases, we can share the following map, which provides an overview of Chilean territorial losses and disputes that have shaped its geography and borders. 8/ This war led to several key border and territorial changes, including in/on the Puna de Atacama, a mineral-rich plateau in the Andes. Following the War of the Pacific, Chile π¨π± and Argentina π¦π· eventually divided the disputed area in 1899. 10/ In addition to these land disputes, Chile π¨π± and Peru π΅πͺ have had maritime territorial disputes over a sea area spanning roughly 37,000 square km. This turned into an international law case presented at the Hague π³π± in 2008 and saw Chile lose control over some of its formerly claimed territory. Below are maps of the disputed area and the agreed upon boundary following the ruling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean%E2%80%93Peruvian_maritime_dispute  @opencage |
2/ As you may have noticed, Chile π¨π± is a tremendously long and thin country.
The Chilean mainland spans approximately 4,300 km from north to south and 180 km from east to west.
A fun site for comparing country sizes is https://www.thetruesize.com
which lets you drag country shapes around the globe.
#geoweirdness