How did Chile come to be a very long, narrow country?

Much of Chile’s current flaco y largo nature results from the events toward the end of the 19th century, in which the country fought a war (War of the Pacific) against Perú and Bolivia to extend its narrowness further northward, while at the same time losing its presumed claim to the rather greater width of what would become Argentine Patagonia. read more

As such, it measures an average of only 109 miles across, but even that understates how narrow the country really is. The mountains that run along the border with Argentina occupy between one-third and one-half of Chile's width. read more

A long and narrow coastal Southern Cone country on the west side of the Andes Mountains, Chile stretches over 4,300 km (2,670 mi) north to south, but only 350 km (217 mi) at its widest point east to west. This encompasses a remarkable variety of climates and landscapes. It contains 756,950 square kilometres (292,260 sq mi) of land area. read more