Santiago

Founded in 1541, in colonial times, Santiago is the Chilean capital with nearly 5 million habitants. Its city centre, with neoclassical architecture and winding streets, is dotted with Art Deco and Neo-Gothic buildings.

The cityscape of Santiago is formed by independent hills and the city is crossed by the Mapocho River, marked by elegant parks such as the Parque Forestal. The imposing Andes mountain range is visible from many places in the city, which is surrounded by vineyards and only a few hours from the mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

The steady economic growth of Santiago in recent decades has transformed the city into a modern metropolis with several major universities and a developing modern transport infrastructure with a partly underground highway and the Metro de Santiago, the most extensive system in South America.

Santiago is the cultural, political and financial hub of Chile, hosting central regional headquarters of multinational companies, as well as the executive and judiciary authority of the country.