🇨🇱 New country: fly over Chile!
Buckle up your seatbelt — Toponauts is flying to the longest, skinniest country in the world: Chile! 🇨🇱✈️ It stretches an incredible 4,300 kilometres from the driest desert on Earth all the way down to icy glaciers near Antarctica. Fly over its 16 regiones, the towering Andes, and even one of the most remote islands on the planet!
🗺️ 16 regiones, one very long country
Chile is divided into 16 regiones, each with its own capital city — from sun-baked Arica in the far north to windswept Punta Arenas near the tip of South America. The country's capital, Santiago, sits right in the middle in the Región Metropolitana. Fly into each regione and watch its real border light up on the map!
🏜️ The driest place on Earth
In the north of Chile lies the Atacama Desert — the driest desert in the whole world. Some parts have never recorded a single drop of rain! Despite the dryness, this is where you'll find the mighty Río Loa, Chile's longest river at 440 km, winding through the sand on its way to the Pacific Ocean.
🌋 Ojos del Salado — the highest volcano on Earth
Running along almost the entire length of Chile are the mighty Andes mountains. Hidden among them is Ojos del Salado, standing an incredible 6,893 metres tall — it's not just Chile's tallest peak, it's the highest active volcano anywhere on Earth! Chile has more than 600 volcanoes in total, including famous ones like Villarrica and Osorno, which still smoke and rumble today.
🌊 Rivers from the mountains to the sea
Chilean rivers rush down from the Andes in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. Near the capital, the Río Maipo flows past Santiago, while further south the powerful Río Biobío carries more water than any other river in the country — it was once even the border between the Chilean state and the Mapuche people's land.
🗿 Easter Island — the loneliest island in the world
Way out in the Pacific Ocean, more than 3,500 km from the Chilean coast, lies Isla de Pascua — also known as Easter Island or Rapa Nui. It's the most remote inhabited island on Earth, famous for its giant stone statues called moai. Even further out you'll find the tiny Juan Fernández Islands, once home to the real-life castaway who inspired the story of Robinson Crusoe!
🎉 Fun facts
- Chile shares borders with 3 countries: Peru, Bolivia and Argentina — the border with Argentina alone is over 5,300 km long, almost entirely along the top of the Andes.
- Chile is so long that it has 5 very different zonas naturales — from scorching desert in the north to fjords and glaciers in the far south.
- The newest regione, Ñuble, was only created in 2018 — before that it was part of the Biobío region.
- Chile stretches across such a huge range of latitude that flying from the top to the bottom is a bit like flying from the Sahara Desert all the way to Antarctica!
▶️ How to play
Switch your country to Chile with the "change your country" button, then pick a map — regiones, capitals, big cities, rivers, mountains, lakes or islands. Zoom into a single regione to practise its towns. ¡Buen vuelo! 🚁