Chile: Rapa Nui National Park

Rapa Nui, the indigenous name of Easter Island, bears witness to a unique cultural phenomenon. A society of Polynesian origin that settled there c. A.D. 300 established a powerful, imaginative and original tradition of monumental sculpture and architecture, free from any external influence. From the 10th to the 16th century this society built shrines and erected enormous stone figures known as moai , which created an unrivalled cultural landscape that continues to fascinate people throughout the world.

Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Chile: Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System

This site is an extensive Inca communication, trade and defence network of roads covering 30,000 km. Constructed by the Incas over several centuries and partly based on pre-Inca infrastructure, this extraordinary network through one of the world’s most extreme geographical terrains linked the snow-capped peaks of the Andes – at an altitude of more than 6,000 m – to the coast, running through hot rainforests, fertile valleys and absolute deserts. It reached its maximum expansion in the 15th century, when it spread across the length and breadth of the Andes. The Qhapac Ñan, Andean Road System includes 273 component sites spread over more than 6,000 km that were selected to highlight the social, political, architectural and engineering achievements of the network, along with its associated infrastructure for trade, accommodation and storage, as well as sites of religious significance.

Description by UNESCO licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Chile: San Pedro de Atacama (tentative)

The Atacama area has a desert-like climate, with big differences of temperature between day and night, and summer rains which do not surpass 100 millimeters per year. The main water sources are the San Pedro and Vilama rivers. The area's chief geographic element is the Solar de Atacama, occupying a surface 100 kilometers long by 80 km. wide. The salt mine is a result of the surfacing of underground waters saturated with mineral salts which, on evaporating, leave a crust rich in salts and minerals. The rivers, fed by the Andean snows, irrigate the area allowing the configuration of numerous oasis. This is the scenario where the Atacama culture developed. 

Description by UNESCO licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Chile: Torres del Paine National Park (World Biosphere Reserve)

Torres del Paine lies between the Andes Mountains and the Patagonian Steppe in southern Chile giving on to the Atlantic coast. It is an area of great scenic beauty, with many ridges, crags, glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, lakes and lagoons.

Description by UNESCO licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Chile: Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso

The colonial city of Valparaíso presents an excellent example of late 19th-century urban and architectural development in Latin America. In its natural amphitheatre-like setting, the city is characterized by a vernacular urban fabric adapted to the hillsides that are dotted with a great variety of church spires. It contrasts with the geometrical layout utilized in the plain. The city has well preserved its interesting early industrial infrastructures, such as the numerous ‘elevators’ on the steep hillsides.

Description by UNESCO licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.