Why Is Chile So Long and Skinny?
The history of Chile’s unique borders
Chile snakes its way up the coast of South America. Chile takes up a large portion of the western coast of the continent. Argentina borders Chile to the east, and they share an extremely long border. Chile also borders Peru (north) and Bolivia (northeast.) One of Chile’s most distinguishable features is its odd shape. Chile is extremely long and extremely narrow. It is like Florida on steroids. Chile stretches over 2,600 miles north to south and averages just 100 miles across.
This odd shape raises an obvious question. Why? Why is Chile so long and skinny?
Simple Geography
Like many global borders, Chile’s are defined in large part due to geography. Many borders follow natural features like rivers and mountains. Chile is no different. Chile is hemmed in by the vast Pacific Ocean to the west and the Andes Mountains to the east.
The Andes Mountains are one of the largest mountain ranges in the world, and the mountains form a formidable barrier. Similarly, the Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. These two incredible natural barriers…
