Santiago, Chile

Santiago (officially in Spanish Santiago de Chile) is Chile's capital and largest city, located at {{coor dms|33|26|16|S|70|39|02|W}}. It is situated in the country's central valley, and administratively is a part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. While Santiago is the capital, legislative bodies meet in nearby Valparaiso.

The economy

Santiago is the most important industrial and financial center of Chile. It generates 45 percent of the country's GDP. Also, the city is, along with Buenos Aires and São Paulo, one of the biggest financial centers of South America. Some international institutions, such as ECLAC (Economic comission for Latin America and the Caribbean), have their offices in Santiago. In recent years, due to the strong growth and stability of the Chilean economy, many multinational companies have chosen Santiago as the place for their headquarters in the region, like HP, Reuters, JP Morgan, Intel, Coca Cola, Unilever, Nestlé, Kodak, BHP Billiton, IBM, Motorola, and many more.

Related Topics:
GDP - Buenos Aires - São Paulo - South America - ECLAC - HP - Reuters - JP Morgan - Intel - Coca Cola - Unilever - Nestlé - Kodak - BHP Billiton - IBM - Motorola

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Transportation

Santiago's national and international airport is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport and ranks high regionally in terms of quality. Trains connect Santiago to Puerto Montt, in the central-southern part of the country. All such trains arrive and depart from the Estación Central ("Central Station"). Private inter-urban bus companies provide excellent and cheap transportation from Santiago to virtually any part of the country. There are also several new inter-urban toll highways connecting the city's extremes; some of these are still under construction.

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Santiago's urban passenger transportation system include an extensive, if chaotic, privately-run bus service as well as a subway. The buses are known as micros (for microbus) and are typically colored yellow. This bus system will be completely replaced in late 2006 by a new system which includes new routes and larger, newer buses, with a better payment system, compatible with the subway. (See Transantiago.) The subway is clean and safe and has three operating lines but their coverage is still somewhat limited. The Government is building an additional subway line (Line 4), and extensions to Lines 1 and 2. (See Santiago Metro.)

Related Topics:
Bus - 2006 - Transantiago - Santiago Metro

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Taxicabs can usually be found on the streets and are painted black with yellow roofs; unmarked taxis may be called up by telephone (Radiotaxis). Colectivos are shared taxicabs that carry passengers along a specific route, for a fixed fee.

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