Miscellaneous

2018

Wikipedia

Religion in Chile
by Wikipedia

The majority religion in Chile, according to a 2018 survey conducted by Plaza Publica Cadem, is Christianity (68%), with an estimated 54% of Chileans belonging to the Catholic Church, 14% to Protestant or Evangelical churches and just 7% to any other religion. The religiously unaffiliated population (25%) includes: atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion. According to another 2017 poll conducted by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Adimark, 59 percent of the population identify as Roman Catholic and 17 percent as surveyed declared to be Protestant. All other religions total 4 percent, and atheists and those "indifferent" regarding religion constitute approximately 19 percent. According to a 2017 poll by Latinobarometro, the country has the second highest atheists/agnostic rate in Latin America (only after Uruguay), with 38 percent of its population declaring themselves devoid of any religious beliefs, whilst just 45 percent of the population identify as Catholic. Only 27% of Chileans say religion is very important in their lives, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center report.
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2014 - 2018

Forbes

The Most Underrated City in South America: Santiago, Chile
by Ann Abel

For connoisseurs of chaos, Santiago can be hard to fall in love with. The city doesn't immediately seduce with gorgeously crumbling buildings or frissons of danger. It’s the most orderly of Latin American capitals.

Rather, Santiago’s appeal unfolds slowly. Founded in 1541, the city of about 5 million still has some of its 19th century neoclassical architecture, mixed with modern glass-and-steel high-rises (including the tallest in South America) designed to withstand Chile’s frequent earthquakes. Its culture is a mix of the traditional and the new as well, as a young creative class is gaining influence, immigration is making the population (and cuisine) more diverse, and the theater and restaurant scenes are blossoming.
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2010 - 2014

Traces of Antartica

Traces of Antartica
by Encyclopedia.com

Antarctica was the last continent to be discovered. It was not until the
19th century that its status as a land mass could even be confirmed. Its
location so far from the great population centers and the most important
ports of the world helped to keep Antarctica shrouded not only by its
impenetrable ice, but also under a veil of mystery.
Punta Arenas was the principal point of reference for all the early
Antarctic scientific expeditions. Though young by modern standards, the
city nevertheless served a vital role not only as the departure point for
journeys to the White Continent but also in some of the most dramatic
stories of survival in the course of human endeavor. Even today, Punta
Arenas serves as the capital of Patagonia and continues to be one of the
most strategic and important ports for expeditions headed across the
treacherous Southern Ocean.
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The Atlantic

The Rebirth of a Pre-Prohibition Liquor
by Clay Risen

Of all the potent potables knocked flat by Prohibition, none has taken longer to climb back up to the bar as pisco, the clear, brandy-like Peruvian liquor. For a half-century before the Noble Experiment, it dominated the West Coast drinking scene; picked up by California-bound sailors after rounding Cape Horn, it practically built San Francisco, whose bars overflowed with sours, punches and shot after shot of straight pisco.

Yet by 1933, the journalist Herbert Asbury could describe it in near-mythic terms: Pisco "must have been something to write home about," he wrote in Barbary Coast, his profile of the City by the Bay. And yet, he reported, "so far as I could learn, no recognizable pisco brandy has been seen there since Prohibition. The speak-easy bartenders had never heard of it." Even today, despite a doubling of imports in recent years, pisco remains a rarity outside Latin-flavored bars.
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El Mercurio

A Capitalist in Patagonia
by Sabine Drysdale

He became rich after selling a social network that he created 10 years before
Facebook. Then, after a tour around the world with his wife he fell in love with Patagonia and bought 30,000 hectares with one idea in mind: to protect them and make them profitable through ecotourism, lodges and private homes; a new Tompkins, but for profit.

“There were wise people who warned me against making a business out of a hobby”, says Warren Adams across the line from his home in Martha's Vineyard, the exclusive East Coast resort of the United States, where he lives with his wife and three children. “But I did not listen”.  (Spanish with English translation).
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Wikipedia

Santiago
by Wikipedia

Santiago (/ˌsæntiˈɑːɡoʊ/, Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo]), also known as Santiago de Chile ([sanˈtjaɣo ðe ˈtʃile] (About this sound listen)), is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's largest and the most densely populated conurbation, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose total population is 7 million. The city is entirely located in the country's central valley. Most of the city lies between 500 m (1,640 ft) and 650 m (2,133 ft) above mean sea level.

Founded in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, Santiago has been the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city has a downtown core of 19th-century neoclassical architecture and winding side-streets, dotted by art deco, neo-gothic, and other styles. Santiago's cityscape is shaped by several stand-alone hills and the fast-flowing Mapocho River, lined by parks such as Parque Forestal. The Andes Mountains can be seen from most points in the city. These mountains contribute to a considerable smog problem, particularly during winter. The city outskirts are surrounded by vineyards and Santiago is within a few hours of both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
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