Chile

The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among... the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the Bolivian province of Antofagasta. Chilean enterprises, which largely exploited the area, saw their interests at stake when Peru nationalized all nitrate mines in Tarapaca, and Bolivia imposed a 10 cent tax on the Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company. The foundations of the conflict were laid in a dispute between Chile and Bolivia over part of the Atacama Desert. The war began on February 14, 1879 when Chilean armed forces occupied the port city of Antofagasta, after a Bolivian threat to confiscate Chilean Antofagasta Nitrate Company's property. Peru attempted to mediate, but when Bolivia announced that a state of war existed, the situation deteriorated. Bolivia called on Peru to activate the mutual defense pact, whereas Chile demanded that Peru immediately declare its neutrality. On April 5, after Peru resisted both demands, Chile declared war on both nations.
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The Chincha Islands War was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru and Chile from 1864 to 1866, that... began with Spain's seizure of the guano-rich Chincha Islands, part of a series of attempts by Isabel II of Spain to reassert her country's lost influence in its former South American empire. The war saw the use of ironclads, including the Spanish ship Numancia, the first ironclad to circumnavigate the world. Military expenditure had greatly increased during Isabel's reign, with Spain becoming as a consequence the world's fourth naval power. Isabel's reign saw Spain engaged in colonial adventures in the 1850s and 1860s in regions as disparate as Morocco, Indochina, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic At the end of 1862, Isabel sent a "scientific expedition" to South American waters, with a second, hidden purpose of backing the financial and legal claims of Spanish citizens living in the Americas.
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The Battle of Yungay effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation created by Bolivian Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz in 1836. On January... 20, 1839, the aliance formed Chilean Army led by Chilean General in Chief Manuel Bulnes and force of Peruvians opposed to Santa Cruz, decisively defeated the Confederate Army commanded by Santa Cruz after six hours of combat in the battlefield of Yungay, in northern Peru, 200 km north of Lima. The Chilean victory at Yungay effectively brought the Peru-Bolivian Confederation to an end, and Andrés de Santa Cruz exiled himself in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The Peruvian government paid the debt contracted with Chile due to Chilean aid on the restoring campaign, also giving decorations and awards to Chilean and Peruvian officials. Also, Peruvian officers who served under the Confederation - among them Guillermo Miller, Mariano Necochea, Luis José Orbegoso, Domingo Nieto - were banned from the Peruvian army. The victory of Yungay is remembered by the Chilean Army with the Hymn of Yungay, and by Peru with the creation of the Ancash Department.
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The War of the Confederation , was a conflict between the Peru-Bolivian Confederation on one side and Chile, Peruvian dissidents and Argentina, on... the other, fought mostly in the actual territory of Peru and which ended with a Confederate defeat and the dissolution of the Confederacy. The creation in 1836 of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation by Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz caused great alarm in the neighbouring countries. The potential power of this confederation aroused the opposition of Argentina and, above all, Chile, due not only to its great territorial expanse but also to the perceived threat that such a rich state signified for the area. Diego Portales y Palazuelos, arguably the most important Chilean statesman of the 19th century, who at the time was the power behind president José Joaquín Prieto Vial, was very concerned that the new Confederacy would break the regional balance of power and even be a threat to Chilean independence, and so became immediately its enemy. But that was just one of the reasons behind the war.
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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the... Asia-Pacific region. Established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional economic blocs in other parts of the world, APEC works to raise living standards and education levels through sustainable economic growth and to foster a sense of community and an appreciation of shared interests among Asia-Pacific countries. Members account for approximately 40% of the world's population, approximately 54% of the world's gross domestic product and about 44% of world trade. An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except the Republic of China , which is represented under the name Chinese Taipei by a ministerial-level official. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and until 2011, a famous tradition involved the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member.
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The United Nations Stabilisation Mission In Haiti , also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of the French translation, is a United Nations peacekeeping... mission in Haiti that has been in operation since 2004. The mission's military component is led by the Brazilian Army and the force commander is Brazilian. MINUSTAH's mandate was most recently extended by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1944 past its October 15, 2010 deadline amid fears of instability. The mission's current mandate runs through October 15th, 2011 with the intention of further renewal. The force is composed of 8,940 military personnel and 3,711 police, supported by an international civilian personnel, a local civilian staff and United Nations Volunteers. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United Nations reported that the headquarters of the mission in Port-au-Prince had collapsed and that the mission's chief, Hédi Annabi of Tunisia, his deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa of Brazil, and the acting police commissioner, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Doug Coates of Canada, were confirmed dead.
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The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes. The World Bank's... official goal is the reduction of poverty. By law, all of its decisions must be guided by a commitment to promote foreign investment, international trade and facilitate capital investment. The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group, in that the World Bank comprises only two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association , whereas the latter incorporates these two in addition to three more: International Finance Corporation , Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency , and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes . The World Bank is one of five institutions created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. The International Monetary Fund, a related institution, is the second. Delegates from many countries attended the Bretton Woods Conference. The most powerful countries in attendance were the United States and United Kingdom, which dominated negotiations. Although both are based in Washington, D.C.
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The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but... representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down operations in 1947. Its purpose was to "plan, co-ordinate, administer or arrange for the administration of measures for the relief of victims of war in any area under the control of any of the United Nations through the provision of food, fuel, clothing, shelter and other basic necessities, medical and other essential services". Its staff of civil servants included 12,000 people, with headquarters in New York. Funding came from many nations, and totaled $3.7 billion, of which the United States contributed $2.7 billion; Britain $625 million and Canada $139 million. UNRRA cooperated closely with dozens of volunteer charitable organizations, who sent hundreds of their own agencies to work alongside UNRRA.
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The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two... Pontifical Universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. It is also one of Chile's oldest universities and one of the most recognized educational institutions in Latin America. Since it is a Pontifical University, it has always had a strong and very close relationship with the Vatican. It was founded on June 21, 1888 through a decree issued by the Santiago Archbishop. Its first chancellor was Monsignor Joaquín Larraín Gandarillas, and at the very beginning, the university only taught two subjects, law and mathematics. It is part of the Universities of the Rectors' Council of Chilean Universities, and although it is not state-owned, a substantial part of its budget is given by state transferences under different concepts.
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The University of Santiago, Chile is one of the oldest public universities in Chile. The institution was born as Escuela de Artes y Oficios in... 1849, under the government of Manuel Bulnes. It became Universidad Técnica del Estado in 1947, with various campuses throughout the country. In 1981, as a consequence of a reform on higher education under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, it became what is now known as Universidad de Santiago de Chile, with all activities centered in a single 340,000 m² campus in the capital Santiago. The University of Santiago of Chile saw its origins in 1849. Is one of oldest and most traditionals universities of Chile. Its background is the "School of Arts and Crafts" was founded in 1849 during the Manuel Bulnes Prieto government.
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The Federico Santa María Technical University , is a Chilean university situated in Valparaíso, Chile. According to some national... rankings of quality perception, it is one of the most reputed engineering universities in Chile , with special emphasis in technical fields, and a significant research growth in business . The University has campuses in Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Santiago, Talcahuano and Rancagua, as well as an international campus in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The University is the alma matter of several prominent businessmen, engineers and chilean scientists. UTFSM was the first Chilean university to confer a Doctorate in engineering in 1962 and, with that, the first higher-education institution in Latin America to confer this degree. The University offers severals undergraduate and graduate degrees in technical areas. In 2011, UTFSM has been awarded nearly US$ 3 million for research projects, being one of the top technical universities in the country in terms of research funds. The university takes its names from Federico Santa María, a Chilean who lived in France.
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Noelle Barahona is an Olympic Alpine Skier from Chile.

Maui Gayme is an Olympic Alpine Skier from Chile.

Gabriel Parra was the former drummer of Chilean folk group "Los Jaivas". He died in a crash in Peru in 1988. His daughter Juanita Parra replaced him... as drummer in Los Jaivas after his death.
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Fernando Ubiergo is a singer-songwriter and Chilean musician. Ubiergo is renowned for his creative musical work that has developed over a career... spanning more than thirty years, which include awards from the Festival International de la Canción de Viña del Mar , Festival de Benidorm and Festival de la OTI among other achievements. Critics have constantly praised his songwriting for its depth and simplicity. He has won the admiration of several generations of Chilean and Latin Americans alike for the style of his musical narrative.
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Argentina /ˌɑrdʒənˈtiːnə/, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by... land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations. Argentina's continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentine claims over Antarctica, as well as overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories. A recognised middle power, Argentina is Latin America's third-largest economy, with a "very high" rating on the Human development index.
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Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South... America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. Prior to European colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was a part of the Inca Empire – the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called Upper Peru and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes. Bolivia is a democratic republic that is divided into nine departments.
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