Chile » International Relations

Membership of international groupings/ organisations •    International Monetary Fund (IMF) •    International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) •    World Tourism Organisation (WTO) •    World Health Organisation (WHO) •    United Nations (UN)

Relations with Neighbouring Countries

Chile has frontiers with Argentina, Peru and Bolivia and has had historical rivalries with each of these neighbours. Chile expanded to its present size in the 1880s. Following her victory over Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile gained the northern provinces of Antofagasta (from Bolivia) and Tarapacá (from Peru). There has been no armed conflict between Chile and her neighbours since 1883, but memories of the war and its territorial consequences have been an enduring source of tension in their relations ever since. It was not until 1999 that Chile and Peru signed an agreement which finally completed implementation of the peace settlement in respect of their land frontier. Chile and Bolivia have not had full diplomatic relations since 1978, when Bolivia broke them off in pursuit of her continuing claim for restoration of her sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean, which was lost in the war.

Chile's relations with her neighbours have, however, grown progressively stronger in recent years. In 1984 Chile and Argentina signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship following the settlement of the Beagle Channel Dispute, and in the 1990s the two countries settled over 20 other delimitation disputes. Although occasional diplomatic tensions continue with Peru, including over the delimitation of maritime borders, the political relationship is cordial: President Toledo of Peru attended the inauguration of President Bachelet in March 2006.

 

Trade and Investment with the UK

In 2005, British exports to Chile were worth just over £150 million, up to 13% in real terms year on year. This represented 9% of British exports to South America, where Chile is the UK's fourth largest export market after Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina. The UK's main exports to Chile are beverages, brand medicines, auto parts, specialised machinery, power generation equipment, paper and cardboard, and plastics.

 

Chilean exports to the UK over the same period were £485 million - a similar figure to 2004. Chile's biggest exports to the UK were gold, wine (the UK is the largest market in the world for Chilean wine), copper, silver, wood and wood pulp, table grapes, frozen chicken (we take roughly 25% of total chicken exports from Chile), cardboard, molybdenum and methane.