Understanding Geographic Location and Chile's Diverse Territory

Geographic Location: Understanding "Where?"

Geography is primarily identified as the science of where?, followed by how? and why?. To find a location, we use geographic coordinates:

• Latitude: The arc of a meridian measured between the Equator and any point on a land area.
• Longitude: The parallel arc measured between the Prime Meridian (Greenwich or 0°) and any point on Earth's surface.

Other methods for location include the cardinal points and relative location.

Spatial Interaction: Principles and Factors

The geographical pattern of interaction potential is analogous to the classical physical model (the interaction between two bodies is a direct function of the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them). In geography, this model replaces mass with population and applies the physical distance between them. Real spatial interaction is conditioned by the flows of passengers, media, and forms of exchange between countries.

Key Factors for Real Spatial Interaction:

International trade, in particular, reflects a set of geographical factors, including:

• Complementarity of Origin (OO) and Destination (DD) areas.
• The presence of alternative opportunities (forces that compete and influence import selection).
• Portability (prices of products reaching the destination country must overcome the friction of distance (1)).
• The price of goods at specific times and in certain countries.
• Demand (DD) levels.
• Cost of transport.
• Domestic prices.
• Trade agreements.
• Surpluses in the domestic market.
• Import barriers.

Chilean Territory: A Tri-Continental Nation

Chile's territory possesses unique characteristics, being tri-continental (American, Oceanic, and Antarctic), to which must be added its extensive Pacific Ocean maritime territory.

Continental South American Chile

Continental South American Chile stretches between 17°30' S and 56°32' S, along the 70° W longitude meridian. It measures 4,270 km from north to south, with an average width of 177 km.

Its northern border is defined by the Line of Concord (Peru). This section has a length of 172 km, extending from Milestone 1, located on the coast at 18°21'03" S and 70°22'56" W, to Milestone 80 (north of the Visviri Tripartite Landmark).

To the north and northeast, Chile borders Bolivia. This limit extends 850 km and is outlined in the Andes, based on straight lines and the watershed, consisting of 81 landmarks from the Visviri Tripartite Landmark until the Zapaleri Tripartite Landmark.

To the east, the border between Chile and Argentina follows the general line of high peaks that divide the waters up to the 52° S parallel, which then extends east to Punta Dungeness, separating the southern island of Tierra del Fuego by the 68°36'38.5" W meridian and finally by the Beagle Channel. This treaty has been difficult to implement, and the southern ice fields zone still remains unresolved.

The southernmost point of this space corresponds to the Diego Ramírez Islands, located at 56°32' S, although Cape Horn is traditionally referred to as the southern tip of America.

To the west, the South American Chilean territory borders the Pacific Ocean.

Antarctic Chile

Antarctic Chile corresponds to the portion of the continent between 53° W and 90° W. This space covers an area of 2,006,626 km².