Top 15 Little-Known Facts About Chile

Are you planning a vacation to Chile and want to learn some truly intriguing facts about the nation that you won't find in any travel guide?

We've compiled a list of the 15 most astounding and fascinating facts about Chile, so make sure to read them all. Do you know why NASA prefers Chile's Atacama Desert for testing its Mars rovers or where the greatest earthquake ever recorded occurred?

1. The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the ideal places on Earth for simulating the characteristics of Mars due to its severe dryness. Even NASA Mars rovers are tested there since the Atacama Desert is as close to Mars as feasible.

2. Easter Island is located in Chile. It is most known for its roughly 1,000 "moai," or monolithic human sculptures. Between 1250 and 1500, the Rapa Nui people carved these pieces.

3. Chile is the world’s longest country from north to south measuring at 2,653 miles (4,270 kilometers).

4. It is still unknown where the word "Chile" came from. Some believe it comes from the Native American term "chilli," which may indicate "where the land stops," while others believe it originates from a valley with the same name in Peru, adjacent to Chile.

5. The world's biggest prehistoric humanoid figure is the Atacama Giant in Chile. The 390-foot-long humanoid geoglyph can be found in Chile's Atacama Desert (119 meters).

6. Chile has the largest permanent civilian settlement on the continent of Antarctica. It is called Villa Las Estrellas and it has a summer population of 150 and a winter population of 80.

7. Argentina's Ushuaia claims to be the world's farthest southerly populated city. Only Puerto Williams and Puerto Toro in Chile are located further south, although neither one has a sufficient population to qualify as a city.

8. In Chile wives and husbands do not share the same last name. Instead wives keep their maiden names.

9. At 3,324 feet (1,013 meters) in length the swimming pool at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, Chile was the largest swimming pool by area in the world at the time of completion in 2006.

10. Pudús are the world’s smallest deer and can only be found in Chile and Argentina. They range in size only from 13 to 17 inches (32 to 44 centimeter).

11. The world’s largest earthquake ever recorded took place in Chile on May 22nd, 1960. It was assigned a magnitude of 9.5 and is known as the “Great Chilean Earthquake”.

12. Less rain falls on the Atacama Desert in Chile than any other desert, even the polar ones. Certain areas receive as little as 0.04 inches (1 millimeter) of precipitation each year on average.

13. Of Chiles 5,100 species of flora and fauna more than 2,500 can be found nowhere else on Earth.

14. Found in Chile the “Chinchorro mummies” are the oldest artificially mummified human remains ever discovered. The oldest Chinchorro mummy found dates from around 5050 BC.

15. Santiago, Chile is home to South America's highest structure, the Gran Torre Santiago tower. It is the fourth-tallest structure in the southern hemisphere, standing at a height of 984 feet (300 meters).

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