PEOPLE

About 75% of Chile's population lives in just 20% of the country's total area, in the main agricultural region of Middle Chile. This region includes Gran Santiago (the capital and its suburbs), where over a third of the country's estimated 15.1 million people reside. More than 85% of Chileans live in cities, a marked increase of 17% in the last 10 years. Chile's people are mestizo of mainly Spanish ancestry, but also the Irish, English, German, Swiss, French, Italian, Croatian and Palestine made a mark. The northern Andean foothills are home to around 20'000 Aymara and Atacameños peoples. Over 900'000 are Mapuche and about 2000 Rapa Nui live on Easter Island.