Chile 1-PESO (KM176.1)¶
-
Obverse ANDEAN CONDOR
-
Reverse Denomination
- Composition
- Copper-Nickel
- Country
- Chile
- Approx. Size
- 29mm
- Area
- South America
- Animal Class
- Birds
- Species
- Andean Condor
- KM#
- 176
The Andean Condor is a new-world vulture and are related to storks, but not closely related to old-world vultures (which include hawks and eagles). It is difficult to not call them ugly, but they have a good reason for looking that way. The Andean Condor is huge, with male wingspans up to 3 m (10 feet)! They can fly up to 5.5 km (3.5 miles) high! Wow. The Andean Condor is a national symbol of Chile.
Chile¶
- Area
- South America
Squeezed between the Andes Mountains and the South Pacific, Chile is the longest country in the world, stretching over 4,200 km from north to south. It's widest point is only 430 km, making it look like the thinnest country. Native Americans on the move started settling in Chile's fertile valleys about 10,000 years ago. The Inca Empire briefly extended into the northern part of the country, but the hostility of the local tribes and the remote area kept them at bay. Same thing happened to the Spanish when they tried to conquer the land in the early 16th century. European settlement of the land was slow and torturous, taking almost 300 years. It ended in the late 19th century with the brutal repression of the Mapuche Indians. Once Spain got entangled with Napoleon, the European colonists in Chile proclaimed independence in 1810, and secured it after eight years of bitter fighting. Chile developed a democratic society, but ran into all sorts of problems in the 20th century including dictatorships and run-away inflation. Chile is a large exporter of copper.
