Tricontinental Chile
Same caveat goes for this post as for my Falkland Islands post: if you´re not interested in history, politics, geography, etc., give this post a miss.
So, seeing ever more maps of Argentina with the Falkland Islands on every single one of them has gone beyond amusing and has become downright sad. But don´t think Argentina´s neighbor to the west, Chile, is any better. They also like to cling to their little empire as well. Like Argentina, they also like to put their claim to Antarctica on many of their national maps (also, like Argentina, ignoring the fact that their claim overlaps with the other country´s claim as well as that of the UK). Significantly, the other 5 countries who have frozen claims in Antarctica (UK, Norway, France, Australia and New Zealand) almost never make any mention of their claims, as they know full well that these claims mean nothing.
You can also see a fair number of maps of Chile titled "Chile Tricontinental", like this one. Chile likes to call itself "tricontinental" thanks to its supposed territory in Antarctica as well as its ownership of Easter Island in Oceania (whether you consider Oceania another continent and whether you consider Easter Island part of it anyway are other issues for another day). Plus, one tiny island does not an empire make. France is called "l´Hexagone" due to its six-sided shape, but you certainly don´t see it calling itself "France Hexacontinental", thanks to its overseas territories like Guyane (South America), Calédonie and Polynésie (Oceania), Réunion (Africa), Guadeloupe and Martinique (North America), France (Europe) and their Antarctic claim. And when´s the last time you saw a map of the US that included Puerto Rico (or Guam or USVI or ...). I can only imagine what will happen if either Chile or Argentina ever puts a person on the moon!
Besides its obsession with the Falklands, Argentina also seems pretty attached to its Antarctica claim, as the official government website lists its land area as including the Antarctic claim as well as the UK´s South Atlantic islands. Including these dubious claims moves Argentina up from being legitimately the 8th largest country in the world to ... the 7th largest country (ahead of India). What an achievement. The official website for Chile also includes their Antarctic territory to give it a size that would make it around the 13th largest country in the world. The more respected figures that leave out their Antarctic territory put it at a more reasonable 37th.
After fighting together for their independence from Spain, Chile and Argentina have had some tense relations ever since, mainly over territorial claims. This site has a good summary of the history of relations between the two countries. One of the more significant bits is the fact that Argentina and Chile both used to claim all of Patagonia but during the War of the Pacific in the 1880s, Chile gave up its claim to most of it to Argentina so that it could concentrate on its war with Peru and Bolivia (that ended with Bolivia being a landlocked country). Another of the more interesting bits is that the two countries almost went to war in the early 1980s over 3 fairly insignificant islands in the Beagle Channel and the Pope and the Vatican had to intervene and mediate between the two countries to prevent a war.
The two countries are almost done finalizing their border, although there´s always one last bit to finish up. Almost every map we saw in Chile usually came with the disclaimer along the lines of "yes, this is a map of Chile, but just because we are showing the map with these borders does not mean that these are Chile´s official borders. Chile has the right to claim more". I´m not sure if Chilean mapmakers are required to put that caveat or not.
So, seeing ever more maps of Argentina with the Falkland Islands on every single one of them has gone beyond amusing and has become downright sad. But don´t think Argentina´s neighbor to the west, Chile, is any better. They also like to cling to their little empire as well. Like Argentina, they also like to put their claim to Antarctica on many of their national maps (also, like Argentina, ignoring the fact that their claim overlaps with the other country´s claim as well as that of the UK). Significantly, the other 5 countries who have frozen claims in Antarctica (UK, Norway, France, Australia and New Zealand) almost never make any mention of their claims, as they know full well that these claims mean nothing.
You can also see a fair number of maps of Chile titled "Chile Tricontinental", like this one. Chile likes to call itself "tricontinental" thanks to its supposed territory in Antarctica as well as its ownership of Easter Island in Oceania (whether you consider Oceania another continent and whether you consider Easter Island part of it anyway are other issues for another day). Plus, one tiny island does not an empire make. France is called "l´Hexagone" due to its six-sided shape, but you certainly don´t see it calling itself "France Hexacontinental", thanks to its overseas territories like Guyane (South America), Calédonie and Polynésie (Oceania), Réunion (Africa), Guadeloupe and Martinique (North America), France (Europe) and their Antarctic claim. And when´s the last time you saw a map of the US that included Puerto Rico (or Guam or USVI or ...). I can only imagine what will happen if either Chile or Argentina ever puts a person on the moon!
Besides its obsession with the Falklands, Argentina also seems pretty attached to its Antarctica claim, as the official government website lists its land area as including the Antarctic claim as well as the UK´s South Atlantic islands. Including these dubious claims moves Argentina up from being legitimately the 8th largest country in the world to ... the 7th largest country (ahead of India). What an achievement. The official website for Chile also includes their Antarctic territory to give it a size that would make it around the 13th largest country in the world. The more respected figures that leave out their Antarctic territory put it at a more reasonable 37th.
After fighting together for their independence from Spain, Chile and Argentina have had some tense relations ever since, mainly over territorial claims. This site has a good summary of the history of relations between the two countries. One of the more significant bits is the fact that Argentina and Chile both used to claim all of Patagonia but during the War of the Pacific in the 1880s, Chile gave up its claim to most of it to Argentina so that it could concentrate on its war with Peru and Bolivia (that ended with Bolivia being a landlocked country). Another of the more interesting bits is that the two countries almost went to war in the early 1980s over 3 fairly insignificant islands in the Beagle Channel and the Pope and the Vatican had to intervene and mediate between the two countries to prevent a war.
The two countries are almost done finalizing their border, although there´s always one last bit to finish up. Almost every map we saw in Chile usually came with the disclaimer along the lines of "yes, this is a map of Chile, but just because we are showing the map with these borders does not mean that these are Chile´s official borders. Chile has the right to claim more". I´m not sure if Chilean mapmakers are required to put that caveat or not.
posted by Kevin at 4/12/2007 08:34:00 PM
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