Santiago tourist information

Santiago's national and international airport is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport and ranks high regionally in terms of quality. Trains operated by Chile's national railway, Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado, connect Santiago to Puerto Montt, in the central-southern part of the country, and to the North they connect the capital with the city of Iquique. All such trains arrive and depart from the Estación Central ("Central Station"). Private inter-urban bus companies provide excellent and cheap transportation from Santiago to virtually any part of the country. There are also several new inter-urban toll highways connecting the city's extremes including the Vespucio Highway (which surrounds the city describing a semi-circle), The Ruta 5 (which crosses the city in North-South direction) and the Costanera Norte (which runs from the eastern side in Las Condes to the western in Pudahuel).

Santiago's urban passenger transportation system include an extensive, if chaotic, privately-run bus service as well as a publicly-owned subway. The buses are known as micros (for microbus) and are typically colored yellow. This bus system is in the process of being completely replaced by early 2007 by a new system which includes new routes and larger, newer buses, with a better payment system (Multivia card), compatible with the subway. The subway is clean and safe and has five operating lines but their coverage is still somewhat limited towards the southern and northern edges of the city. The Government just inaugurated two additional subway lines (Line 4 and 4a), but it is still being expanded, and is building extensions to Lines 1 and 2.

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Taxicabs can usually be found on the streets and are painted black with yellow roofs; unmarked taxis may be called up by telephone (Radiotaxis). Colectivos are shared taxicabs that carry passengers along a specific route, for a fixed fee.

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Santiago was founded by Pedro de Valdivia on February 12, 1541 with the name Santiago de Nueva Extremadura. The founding ceremony was held on Huelén Hill (later renamed Cerro Santa Lucía). Valdivia chose the location of Santiago because of its moderate climate and the ease with which it could be defended—the Mapocho River splits into two branches and rejoins further downstream, forming an island.

The first buildings were erected with the help of the native Picunche Indians. The south bank of the Mapocho River was later drained and converted into a public promenade, known as the Alameda (now Avenida Alameda Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins). The city was slightly damaged during the War of Independence (1810–18), in the Battle of Maipú, which was fought south-west of the city. Santiago was named capital in 1818.

During the early 19th century, Santiago remained a small town with few buildings excepting Palacio de La Moneda, the building used as the Chilean mint during the Spanish period, and a few churches and other civic buildings. In the 1880s extraction of nitrate fertilizer in Northern Chile brought prosperity to the country, and promoted the capital city's development. Important landmarks were built in 1910 during the Centennial celebrations of independence from Spain, such as the National Library and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Santiago began its transformation to a modern city in the 1930s, with the building of the Barrio Cívico, surrounding El Palacio de La Moneda. The city also grew in population, due to migration from the north and south of Chile.

In 1985 an earthquake destroyed some historically significant buildings in the downtown area.

Santiago is now often considered an important financial center in Latin America.