Chile

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Chile fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇵🇪 Inca Empire1470 to 1536

   Inca armies conquered the north and centre of Chile in the late 1400s, building roads and forts. Further south, resistance from the Mapuche and their neighbours stopped the Inca advance near the Maule river.

2. Mapuche1550 to 1883

   From the battle of Tucapel, where Valdivia died in 1553, to the occupation of Araucania in 1883, the Mapuche fought first Spain, then the Chilean republic, for the lands south of the Biobio.

3. 🇳🇱 Dutch Republic1600 to 1643

   Dutch fleets raided the Chilean coast in the early 1600s. In 1643 an expedition sent under Hendrik Brouwer occupied the ruins of Valdivia, hoping to ally with the Mapuche, but left within months. Spain then fortified Valdivia heavily.

4. 🇪🇸 Spanish Empire1810 to 1826

   Spain crushed Chile's first republic at Rancagua in 1814. The Army of the Andes won at Chacabuco in 1817 and Maipu in 1818, and the last Spanish garrison, on Chiloe, surrendered in 1826.

5. Peru-Bolivian Confederation1836 to 1839

   Chile feared the union of Peru and Bolivia under Andres de Santa Cruz and went to war against it in 1836. Chilean and Peruvian exile forces won at Yungay in January 1839, and the confederation dissolved.

6. 🇦🇷 ArgentinaSince 1843Still open

   Both countries claimed Patagonia. Treaties in 1881 and 1984 and several arbitrations drew the long border, and the two nearly went to war over the Beagle Channel in 1978. A stretch across the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is still not fully marked.

7. 🇪🇸 Kingdom of Spain1865 to 1866

   Chile joined Peru in the Chincha Islands War against a Spanish fleet in the Pacific. On 31 March 1866 the Spanish squadron bombarded the undefended port of Valparaiso, then sailed away.

8. 🇧🇴 BoliviaSince 1879Still open

   Chile took Bolivia's Pacific coast in the War of the Pacific, confirmed by the 1904 treaty. Bolivia still demands sea access, and the International Court of Justice ruled against it in 2018. The two have no full diplomatic relations.

9. 🇵🇪 Republic of Peru1879 to 2014

   Chile defeated Peru in the War of the Pacific and occupied Lima in 1881. Tacna and Arica stayed disputed until the 1929 treaty split them, and the International Court of Justice drew the sea border in 2014.

Today

Chile now

Indigenous groups inhabited central and southern Chile for several thousand years, living in mixed pastoralist and settled communities. The Inca then ruled the north of the country for nearly a century prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. In 1541, the Spanish established the Captaincy General of Chile, which lasted until Chile declared its independence in 1810.

Capital

Santiago

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

José Antonio Kast

Languages

Spanish

Area

756,556 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population19.7 million2023 · 6.6 million in 1950
• Life expectancy81.2 years2023 · 53.2 years in 1950
• GDP per person$22,7402022 · $5,880 in 1950
• Living in cities89%2025 · 58% in 1950
• Literacy96%2017 · 78% in 1950
• Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesRio Pact2024 · Rio Pact in 1950
• Military spending1.5% of GDP2025 · 2.6% of GDP in 1950
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.