Santiago (redirected from Santiago (disambiguation))

Santiago, city, Chile

Santiago (säntēä`gō), city (1990 est. pop. 4,395,000), central Chile, capital of Chile and of Metropolitana de Santiago region, on the Mapocho River. It is the political, commercial, and financial heart of the nation, although Valparaiso has been the seat of the Chilean congress since 1990. Much of Chile's industry is distributed among other cities, but Santiago is an active manufacturing center. Textiles, foodstuffs, clothing, footwear, and other goods are produced. There are also large iron and steel foundries in the city, which has a subway and an international airport.

The city was founded and named Santiago de Nueva Estremadura on Feb. 12, 1541, by Pedro de Valdivia. Laid out according to Valdivia's plan in a gridiron pattern between the hill of Santa Lucía and the Mapocho, a mountain torrent, Santiago has spread over a broad valley plain and is today one of the largest cities in South America. Low foothills encompass the valley, and the snowcapped Andes, forming a superb backdrop, rise in the eastern distance. For most of the year the capital (alt. c.1,700 ft/520 m) has a nearly perfect climate—warm days and cool nights.

While some structures from the colonial era remain, the atmosphere of Santiago is fairly modern (much construction took place in the late 19th cent.), with neoclassical government offices, modern office buildings, and sumptuous residences. Spacious parks, plazas, gardens, and wide avenues (the Avenida Bernardo O'Higgins extends 2 mi/3.2 km in a straight line through the city) are characteristic features. The city also has a zoo, camping grounds, and several sports stadiums. Focal point of the intellectual and cultural development of Chile from colonial times to the present, Santiago has many national establishments—the library, the museum, the theater, and (besides other institutions of higher learning) the National Univ., which is the successor to the Univ. of San Felipe, founded by a royal decree of 1758.

Santiago has experienced several catastrophes. In Sept., 1541, the indigenous Mapuche peoples nearly wiped out the new settlement; it was completely leveled by an earthquake in 1647; and the Mapocho has frequently flooded the city. In 1863 the Campañía Church, with doors that opened inward, caught fire from a falling lamp, and 2,000 worshipers perished.

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Santiago, city, Panama

Santiago (säntyä`gō), city (1990 pop. 60,959), W central Panama. Santiago is a communications and commercial center in the Pacific lowlands. It is a provincial and district capital.

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Santiago

City (pop., 2002 prelim.: 4,630,000), capital of Chile. It is located in central Chile, on the Mapocho River at an elevation of about 1,700 ft (520 m). Founded in 1541 by the Spanish, the city has suffered repeatedly from earthquakes, floods, and civil disorder. It was only slightly damaged during the War of Independence (1810–18) and became the capital of an independent Chile at the war's end. It is the country's economic and cultural centre and principal industrial city, producing textiles, footwear, and foodstuffs. The city boasts a cosmopolitan cultural life and is the home of the University of Chile.

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Santiago (de los Caballeros)

City (pop., 1993: 365,463), north-central Dominican Republic. Founded c. 1500, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1562 and rebuilt a few miles away. Ruins of the old city are still visible in the district of San Francisco de Jacagua. It is the country's second largest city; its economy depends mainly on the production of pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, rum, and coffee.

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Santiago

1. the capital of Chile, at the foot of the Andes: commercial and industrial centre; two universities. Pop.: 5 623 000 (2005 est.)

2. a city in the N Dominican Republic. Pop.: 479 000 (2005 est.)

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Santiago

struggles long and hard for great fish. [Am. Lit.: Old Man and the Sea]

See : Determination

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Santiago

attempts to subdue large fish through harshness of sea and weather. [Am. Lit.: The Old Man and the Sea]

See : Perseverance

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Santiago

old fisherman in search of marlin. [Am. Lit.: The Old Man and the Sea]

See : Quest

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Santiago

the capital of the Republic of Chile and the country’s cultural and economic center. Santiago lies at the foot of the Andes, at an average elevation of about 540 m, on both banks of the Mapocho River. It has a Mediterranean climate. The mean temperature is 19.7°C in January and 7.7°C in July. The average annual precipitation is 363 mm a year. Area, more than 100 sq km. Population (Greater Santiago), 3.4 million (1974).

Santiago is a major railroad and highway junction and one of the principal cities on the Pan American Highway. An electrified railroad runs from Santiago to Valparaiso, Chile’s largest port. Four airports serve the city. Santiago has a concentration of large industrial facilities, which produce electrical equipment, metalwork, machines, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber products, consumer goods, including textiles, and food products. Santiago accounts for about one-half of the value of Chile’s entire manufacturing output.

Santiago was founded on Feb. 12, 1541, by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. After the independence of Chile was proclaimed in 1818, it became the country’s capital. Santiago has been Chile’s industrial center since the early 20th century and, throughout this period, has been the scene of the Chilean proletariat’s most significant anti-imperialist demonstrations, especially in the 1930’s and in 1950, 1954–55, and 1966. After S. Allende’s government of Popular Unity took power in November 1970, Santiago witnessed bitter class fighting between the opposition and the supporters of Popular Unity. On Sept. 11, 1973, reactionary military leaders overthrew the government of Popular Unity; Allende was killed during the storming of La Moneda, the presidential palace.

In Santiago, which was given a grid plan in the mid-16th century, the houses are uniformly low and wide and enclose small courtyards. The Plaza de Armas occupies the city center; it is flanked by buildings dating from the colonial period and done mostly in a baroque style: the Cathedral (1541–1619, completed 1780; architect J. Toesca) and the city hall (second half of the 18th century; architects Toesca and M. de Jaraquemada). Outstanding examples of colonial architecture are the Church of San Francisco (1618) and the Mint (La Moneda, later the presidential palace; begun 1782, architect Toesca; bombed during the 1973 coup). Since the late 19th century the streets of Santiago have been paved and landscaped, and various parks have been laid out. Many buildings are done in the neoclassical, neo-Gothic, or art nouveau style. In the central, western, and southwestern sections of the city, modern administrative, business, and apartment buildings rise eight to 12 stories high; there are also many mansions.

Santiago is the home of the University of Chile, the Catholic University of Chile, the State Technical University, the School of Applied Arts, and the National Conservatory of Music. There is also a military school. Research institutions include the Chilean Academy, the Chilean Antarctic Institute, and the Latin American Institute for Economic and Social Planning; there are also learned societies in linguistics, natural sciences, and history and an institute of experimental medicine.

Of the 13 libraries in Santiago, the National Library is the largest. Museums include the National Historical Museum, the National Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Museum of Natural History; there are also anatomical, archaeological, and pedagogical museums, a museum of modern art, and a museum of American folk art.

Theaters include the Municipal Theater, where operas, ballets, and plays are presented, and the Opera, the Municipal de los Condes, the A. Varas, El Túnel, the Caupolican, and the Petit Rex.

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Santiago

(Santiago de los Caballeros), a city in the northern Dominican Republic; situated on the Yaque del Norte River. Capital of Santiago Province. Population, 155,200 (1970). Santiago has a railroad station. It is the commercial center of an agricultural region, known for the cultivation of tobacco, coffee, cacao, and rice and for the raising of livestock. Santiago is noted for its tobacco products and chemicals and for the processing of coffee. Santiago has a university. Santiago de los Caballeros was founded in the 16th century.