page_title: Geography of Chile
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Chile / Urban geography / Origins
caption_attribution_description: Planche VII
context_page_description: The geography of Chile is extremely diverse as the country extends from a latitude of 17° South to Cape Horn at 56° and from the ocean on the west to Andes on the east. Chile is situated in southern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean and a small part of the South Atlantic Ocean. Chile's territorial shape is among the world's most unusual. From north to south, Chile extends 4,270 km, and yet it only averages 177 km east to west. Chile reaches from the middle of South America's west coast straight down to the southern tip of the continent, where it curves slightly eastward. Diego Ramírez Islands and Cape Horn, the southernmost points in the Americas, where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet, are Chilean territory. Chile's northern neighbors are Peru and Bolivia, and its border with Argentina to the east, at 5,150 km, is the world's third-longest. The total land size is 756,102 km². The very long coastline of 6,435 km gives it the 11th largest exclusive economic zone of 3,648,532 km².
context_section_description: Industrial cities, such as Concepción and Talcahuano, began as colonial centers in the 1600s. Most of the large cities in Chile began as settlement locations for Spanish colonists living in homes constructed from adobe. They have grown to be the densely populated urban conurbations they are known for today.
caption: Concepción early 1700s
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