Chile is the country that stretches about 2,650 miles from north to south while measuring only about 100 to 250 miles across. Its extraordinary ribbon-like shape follows the Pacific coast of South America, between the ocean and the Andes Mountains.
This geography gives Chile remarkable environmental variety. The north includes the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth; central Chile contains fertile valleys and most of the population; and the south features forests, glaciers, fjords, and Patagonia. Santiago lies in the more temperate central region.
Chile borders Peru and Bolivia to the north and Argentina along most of its eastern frontier. The Andes form a powerful natural boundary, while the Humboldt Current helps keep the Pacific coast cooler than its latitude might suggest.
Modern measurements often describe Chile as roughly 2,670 miles long and about 108 miles wide on average, so older references may give slightly different figures. The defining fact remains its unusual length-to-width ratio.