Valparaíso

:For other uses, see Valparaiso (disambiguation).

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Valpara?so is one of the main seaports of Chile, on the Pacific Ocean, and the capital of the Valpara?so Region. It is Chile's 6th largest city in terms of population, with 267,800 inhabitants as of 2004. It played an important geopolitical role in the second half of the 19th century, when it served as a major stopover for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by crossing the Straits of Magellan, before the Panama Canal was built.

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Valpara?so is located in central Chile at latitude 33? 01? S, longitude 71? 38? W, 120 km from the capital Santiago.

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The Chilean Congress meets in a modern building in the Almendral section of Valpara?so, after relocation from Santiago during the last years of the military rule of general Augusto Pinochet. Although congressional activities were to be legally moved by a ruling in 1987, the newly built site only began to function as the seat of Congress during the democratically-elected government of Patricio Aylwin, who followed Pinochet, in 1990.

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The historic quarter of Valpara?so was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

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Seaport: REDIRECT Port...

Chile: The Republic of Chile is a country in South America occupying a long coastal strip between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north....

Pacific Ocean: :For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation)....

Valparaíso related Images and Photos (experimental)

Valparaiso 1822

Funicular Valparaiso Chile South America

Sager's Mill Valparaiso Indiana

Overlooking the Bay of Valpariso Mirando La Bahia de Valparaiso 1854