68 SELLING LATIN AMERICA 
on April 5, 1818, defeating forever Spanish 
power and becoming absolutely independent. 
A republican form of government was 
adopted, the executive power being vested in 
a President, and the legislative in two houses, 
a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. 
The Republic of Chile has 292,580 square 
miles, with a ragged coast line of 2,627 miles, 
and varies in width from 90 to 248 miles. It 
is bordered on the north by Peru, the east by 
Bolivia and Argentine, the south and west by 
the Pacific Ocean. 
Two almost parallel ranges of mountains, 
the Cordillera de la Costa and the Andes, run 
from north to south, with a valley over 500 
miles long and 40 wide spread between them. 
In this chain of mountains are more than 30 
extinct volcanoes from 11,700 to 21,340 feet 
in height. 
Owing to its extreme length Chile possesses 
many climates. To the north it is dry and 
hot, the central portion being decidedly tem 
perate with changing seasons, almost like Cali 
fornia, while in the south the temperature gets