Population Distribution in Chile
... dramatic effect on population distribution with population density reducing with altitude due to inaccessibility, thinner soils and colder climates. To the west of The Andes the land structure of the valley has a varied form, in the north is a high desert basin with drainage into the River Loa with typical desert pediment slopes, from Capiapo it disappears re-emerging in the nations capital, Santiago de Chile forming the enclosed basins of the capital, further to the south is a rolling topography due to glacial and proglacial deposits. Further to the east is the Cordeillera de la Costa the coastline with the Pacific, which also has a hilly topography generally under 3000m although this also produces difficulties for accessibility and transport. The huge length of Chile gives vast climatic differences this is also essential to the distribution of population. As I have mentioned the Andes attract little population due to difficulties of transport but it also has a difficult mountain climate with perpetual snow and glaciers. Precipitation is light in the northern mountains, and so the snowline is high. Away from the mountains in the Big North is one of the driest and most inhospitable places in the world with the South Pacific anti-cyclone all year in the Atacama Desert. Population density in northern regions such as Antofagasta and Atacama are the lowest in the country. The little north also features large strips of desert but also deep transverse valleys with lots of vegetation. Further south rainfall increases to the Mediterranean climate of central Chile with rainy season of May to August. This far more equable climate of warm dry summers and 552mm rainfall a year is one of many reasons for the high density of population in the area. Chile's three largest cities, Santiago, Valparaiso and Concepción, are located in this central valley. The Big South has an equally extreme climate as the Big North, it extremely wet, windy and cold. Rainfall is approximately 5000 mm a year with summer temperature at 15C and winter temperature at 7C The most southern point is Cape Horn, famous for its huge storms. These conditions partly explain the fact that this area is more than 1/3 of Chiles land mass and yet home to only 3% of its population. As a general rule, Chile's climate makes a steady transition between the extreme arid heat of the desert north to the bitterly cold and wet conditions of the far south. Industry in Chile also has huge influence. There are two kinds of industry in Chile. In the periphery regions it is largely primary industries based on the available raw materials such as the copp...