jueves, 22 de diciembre de 2011
History of Santiago
Santiago grew in importance in the 19th Century. Thousands migrated from northern and southern Chile and the population grew quicky throughout the century, reaching from 30,000 in the early years of 19th Century to 100,000 in the period of a few decades. The economic status of the city received a major boost with the discovery of the nitrate mines in Northern Chile. The economy of Chile went through a process of large-scale improvement in the 1880s as a result of that. Important government buildings started to grace the city. The streets changed from unpaved dusty tracks to paved and ordered roads in these years. The National Library, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Mapocho train station changed the very face of Santiago in these years.
The steady rising economic profile of Santiago made it a modern and stylish city from 1930s onwards. The Pinochet regime of the 1980s resulted in a number of air-strikes and military expeditions on the city.
Founding of the city:
Santiago was founded by Italy/Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia on February 11, 1541 with the name Santiago de Nueva Extremadura, as a homage to Saint James and Extremadura, Valdivia's birth place in Spain. The founding ceremony was held on Huelén Hill (later renamed Cerro Santa Lucía). Valdivia chose the location of Santiago because of its climate, abundant vegetation and the ease with which it could be defended—the Mapocho River then split into two branches and rejoined further downstream, forming an island.The Inca ruler Manco Cápac II warned the new rulers that his people would be hostile to the occupiers. The Spanish invaders had to battle against hunger caused by this resistance. Pedro de Valdivia ultimately succeeded in stabilizing the food supply and other resources needed for Santiago to thrive.
The layout of the new town consisted of straight roads of 12 varas (14.35 m, 47.1 ft) width, in equal intervals of 138 varas (165.08 m, 541.6 ft) perpendicular to each other. With nine roads in the east-west direction and 15 in the north-south direction, there were 126 blocks that formed the so-called manzanas, or square cut.
The steady rising economic profile of Santiago made it a modern and stylish city from 1930s onwards. The Pinochet regime of the 1980s resulted in a number of air-strikes and military expeditions on the city.
Founding of the city:
Santiago was founded by Italy/Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia on February 11, 1541 with the name Santiago de Nueva Extremadura, as a homage to Saint James and Extremadura, Valdivia's birth place in Spain. The founding ceremony was held on Huelén Hill (later renamed Cerro Santa Lucía). Valdivia chose the location of Santiago because of its climate, abundant vegetation and the ease with which it could be defended—the Mapocho River then split into two branches and rejoined further downstream, forming an island.The Inca ruler Manco Cápac II warned the new rulers that his people would be hostile to the occupiers. The Spanish invaders had to battle against hunger caused by this resistance. Pedro de Valdivia ultimately succeeded in stabilizing the food supply and other resources needed for Santiago to thrive.
The layout of the new town consisted of straight roads of 12 varas (14.35 m, 47.1 ft) width, in equal intervals of 138 varas (165.08 m, 541.6 ft) perpendicular to each other. With nine roads in the east-west direction and 15 in the north-south direction, there were 126 blocks that formed the so-called manzanas, or square cut.
miércoles, 21 de diciembre de 2011
Santiago Geography
Santiago city occupies a narrow strip of land between the high Andes Mountains and the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. The geographical coordinates of Santiago are 33º 27' south latitude and 70º 40' west longitude. The city is situated 521 meters above sea level. The city is located on predominantly flat land and encloses an urban area of 22.4 sq. km. Santiago geography throws light on the location and orientation of Santiago. Santiago time zone is calculated 4 hours advance to the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). During winter, day light saving time is observed in the city.
Chile Immigration Requirements and Citizenship
- Chile is an economically diverse and one of the most progressive Latin American countries. Along with an open culture, low-crime rate, exceptional recreational opportunities and fantastic food, Chile offers one of the most desirable countries in which to immigrate. Chile's immigration requirements are lengthy and somewhat bureaucratic, but are easy and corruption-free when compared to other Latin American destinations.
Chilean Tourist Visa:
- The first step in the immigration process is to receive a Chilean tourist visa, or tourist card. This can be arranged beforehand at any Chilean Embassy or Consulate. A tourist card can also be acquired upon arrival at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago - it allows a stay of up to 90 days for a $61 fee. Once in Chile, it is possible to extend your tourist card for a fee at any immigration office. But 90 days should suffice on taking the next step towards residency.
Temporary Resident Visa, Student Visa or Subject to Contract Visa:
- These three visas will allow a stay in Chile for up to one year and each can be extended for another year. Of the three, the temporary residency visa in Chile is the easiest to receive as it does not require placement in school or an employment contract. These visas will require up to two months, so beginning the process once you arrive in Chile is important. Requirements for a temporary residency visa are two notarized passport copies, two notarized tourist card copies, two passport-sized photographs and proof of income in the form of work contracts and bank statements.
For those wishing to obtain a Student Visa they will need to supply official paperwork from a school stating course schedule and payment. Subject to Contract Visas require paperwork submitted by your employer. One thing to note is if you are terminated from your employment your visa will be revoked.
Permanent Residency:
- A permanent resident of Chile has all the rights as any other citizen, including working, purchasing property and access to social services. You can only receive permanent residency in Chile once you have lived there for two years as a temporary resident, but can begin the application process after one year of residency. The process for obtaining permanent residency includes an application, proof of sufficient funds, a personal interview and $15 fee. It also helps to provide additional support for becoming a permanent resident in the form of Chilean relatives, business investments, fluency in Spanish, community relationships and knowledge of Chilean political affairs. If you leave the country for more than one year after receiving permanent residency it will be revoked.
Chilean Passport:
- Although being a permanent resident allows you the same legal rights as a Chilean citizen you cannot receive a passport until you have been lived there for five years. A Chilean passport allows you to keep your native passport so you will have dual citizenship. Along with five years of permanent residency, you must have no criminal convictions while in Chile and proof of financial stability.
martes, 20 de diciembre de 2011
Important news in Santiago...
1) 47 people have died in traffic accidents on Kennedy Avenue between 2000 and 2011.
The Motion accident early this month at Kennedy Avenue Vitacura, increased to 47 the number of fatalities for this kind of thing in this way in the last 11 years.
This was said the executive secretary of the National Traffic Safety (CONASET), Maria Francisca Yanez, adding that the death of Jorge Basso Ruiz (48) also increased to 2007 traffic accidents in the same period of time in this way .
Of these, a total of 54 were caused by speeding, which is equivalent to 2.6 percent of the total.
Last year there were 1,427 car accidents caused by speeding up, leaving 125 people dead.
Asked about the accident this morning, Yanez said it was "unacceptable speeding and in this case, the person drove nearly 180 miles per hour.
Francisca Yanez added that the human factor is responsible for 90% of accidents, so the government program of road safety, called "Drive yourself around life," will focus on a responsible behavior from pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
2) Chilean students end up symbolic occupations after 6 months.
Student ‘toma’s’ over in Chile’s most prestigious public university and high school.
Students have voted to end occupations at two of the most symbolic institutes of Chile’s public education system, but have vowed to continue demonstrations after months of protests have failed to achieve significant reforms to the country’s highly privatized, class based education system.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning students began cleaning up the Casa Central (Central House) of the Universidad de Chile in the heart of downtown Santiago after nearly seven-month-long “toma” or takeover.
They took down the enormous banners that turned the historic building’s facade into an ever-changing mural, pulled off the hood of that covered the face of the statue of university founder Andrés Bello, and began removing the possessions of students who have maintained a constant presence on site for over half a year.
Their move was a significant one as the Casa Central had been the country’s focal point of the student movement, serving as a forum for ideas and discussion and a place where the student movement interacted with the general public. Street lectures and concerts were held in front of the building and radio programs broadcast from inside, including the popular “cultural barricade” show, which interviewed passers-by and gave them free books.
But all that came to an end when representatives of the Fech, the university’s student federation, officially relinquished the building to university authorities after students decided to end the “toma” and initiate new forms of protest.
“The leadership council of the Fech decided to end the occupation of the Casa Central and return it to the administration of the entire community,” said the new Fech president Gabriel Boric, “so that repairs, dating back to the [February 2010] earthquake, can be made.”
Fech representatives - including vice president Camila Vallejo, who was recently voted “person of the year” by readers of The Guardian - reached an agreement with university dean, Víctor Pérez. The building will now go through a period of repairs that have been pending since the devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake of 2010.
Boric stressed that the hand-over of the building did not signal the end of Chile’s student movement, but was rather the beginning of a new phase of demonstrations.
“This doesn’t mean that the student movement is over,” said Boric. “There are still many issues pending. The demands that we have made as a student movement were not achieved this year. From here and into the future, the Casa Central will be open for different activities and to continue with demonstrations, but always open to the community.”
Meanwhile Chile’s most prestigious public high school, Instituto Nacional, also voted to end its occupation this week, which lasted 195 days.
“It was no longer an effective instrument of pressure,” said José Soto, president of the school’s student group.
After opening its doors to the public, the school was inspected by the Santiago Mayor Pablo Zalaquett and school principal Jorge Toro.
Toro, who described the school as “unpresentable” and accused the protesters of “having no love for the school,” told La Tercera that students who caused damages would be identified and have their enrollment “examined.”
Mayor Zalaquett said that he would not ask for money from the Education Ministry unless the whole school community agreed to undertake a public commitment to take care of the school.
The mayor said that he would review school admissions for 2012, saying, “I can’t open the school to admissions that will allow what happened this year to repeat itself, in the most emblematic public school in Chile, were young people and their families dream of studying.”
The school’s student group agreed to help pay for repairs, but president Soto denied that the ending of the “toma” was a blow for the student movement.
“If this is a defeat, it is a defeat for the whole country,” he said.
The end of occupations of the Instituto Nacional and the Casa Central of the Universidad de Chile comes as high school representatives announced that 70 schools around the country would remain in “toma” over the school holidays.
In the district of Instituto Nacional, Santiago Central, eight of 16 public high school remain in “toma.”
Meanwhile students are set to end the year’s demonstrations with a Christmas-themed protest in Plaza de Armas, Santiago, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, when students of the Universidad de Chile will hand “Santa Claus” a letter asking for a better education.
“The government is not listening,” read a Fech communique, “so we have to ask for our dream [of quality education] from Santa.”
The information was submitted by the National Traffic Safety, adding that in that period there have been 2007 cases and 54 of them for speeding.
The Motion accident early this month at Kennedy Avenue Vitacura, increased to 47 the number of fatalities for this kind of thing in this way in the last 11 years.
This was said the executive secretary of the National Traffic Safety (CONASET), Maria Francisca Yanez, adding that the death of Jorge Basso Ruiz (48) also increased to 2007 traffic accidents in the same period of time in this way .
Of these, a total of 54 were caused by speeding, which is equivalent to 2.6 percent of the total.
Last year there were 1,427 car accidents caused by speeding up, leaving 125 people dead.
Asked about the accident this morning, Yanez said it was "unacceptable speeding and in this case, the person drove nearly 180 miles per hour.
Francisca Yanez added that the human factor is responsible for 90% of accidents, so the government program of road safety, called "Drive yourself around life," will focus on a responsible behavior from pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
2) Chilean students end up symbolic occupations after 6 months.
Student ‘toma’s’ over in Chile’s most prestigious public university and high school.
Students have voted to end occupations at two of the most symbolic institutes of Chile’s public education system, but have vowed to continue demonstrations after months of protests have failed to achieve significant reforms to the country’s highly privatized, class based education system.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning students began cleaning up the Casa Central (Central House) of the Universidad de Chile in the heart of downtown Santiago after nearly seven-month-long “toma” or takeover.
They took down the enormous banners that turned the historic building’s facade into an ever-changing mural, pulled off the hood of that covered the face of the statue of university founder Andrés Bello, and began removing the possessions of students who have maintained a constant presence on site for over half a year.
Their move was a significant one as the Casa Central had been the country’s focal point of the student movement, serving as a forum for ideas and discussion and a place where the student movement interacted with the general public. Street lectures and concerts were held in front of the building and radio programs broadcast from inside, including the popular “cultural barricade” show, which interviewed passers-by and gave them free books.
But all that came to an end when representatives of the Fech, the university’s student federation, officially relinquished the building to university authorities after students decided to end the “toma” and initiate new forms of protest.
“The leadership council of the Fech decided to end the occupation of the Casa Central and return it to the administration of the entire community,” said the new Fech president Gabriel Boric, “so that repairs, dating back to the [February 2010] earthquake, can be made.”
Fech representatives - including vice president Camila Vallejo, who was recently voted “person of the year” by readers of The Guardian - reached an agreement with university dean, Víctor Pérez. The building will now go through a period of repairs that have been pending since the devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake of 2010.
Boric stressed that the hand-over of the building did not signal the end of Chile’s student movement, but was rather the beginning of a new phase of demonstrations.
“This doesn’t mean that the student movement is over,” said Boric. “There are still many issues pending. The demands that we have made as a student movement were not achieved this year. From here and into the future, the Casa Central will be open for different activities and to continue with demonstrations, but always open to the community.”
Meanwhile Chile’s most prestigious public high school, Instituto Nacional, also voted to end its occupation this week, which lasted 195 days.
“It was no longer an effective instrument of pressure,” said José Soto, president of the school’s student group.
After opening its doors to the public, the school was inspected by the Santiago Mayor Pablo Zalaquett and school principal Jorge Toro.
Toro, who described the school as “unpresentable” and accused the protesters of “having no love for the school,” told La Tercera that students who caused damages would be identified and have their enrollment “examined.”
Mayor Zalaquett said that he would not ask for money from the Education Ministry unless the whole school community agreed to undertake a public commitment to take care of the school.
The mayor said that he would review school admissions for 2012, saying, “I can’t open the school to admissions that will allow what happened this year to repeat itself, in the most emblematic public school in Chile, were young people and their families dream of studying.”
The school’s student group agreed to help pay for repairs, but president Soto denied that the ending of the “toma” was a blow for the student movement.
“If this is a defeat, it is a defeat for the whole country,” he said.
The end of occupations of the Instituto Nacional and the Casa Central of the Universidad de Chile comes as high school representatives announced that 70 schools around the country would remain in “toma” over the school holidays.
In the district of Instituto Nacional, Santiago Central, eight of 16 public high school remain in “toma.”
Meanwhile students are set to end the year’s demonstrations with a Christmas-themed protest in Plaza de Armas, Santiago, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, when students of the Universidad de Chile will hand “Santa Claus” a letter asking for a better education.
“The government is not listening,” read a Fech communique, “so we have to ask for our dream [of quality education] from Santa.”
lunes, 19 de diciembre de 2011
National Heritage Places in Santiago
Next here we will show you the best known and interesting National Heritage places around Santiago for you and your family/friends to visit and have the best vacations of your life!!
1) Palacio de La Moneda
Address: Plaza de la Ciudadania 26, SG, Chile.
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