Natural Resources Information Center, CIREN, a state technological institute of CORFO (Corporation to Promote Development) has more than 40 years of experience in the compilation, generation and handling of information related to the natural resources of Chile. This unique database provides integrated basic information on climate, irrigation, water, soil, land capability, land use, geology, and geomorphology among many others. You can also find information regarding rural property boundaries, fruit crops, and forest plantation productions of Chile. CIREN´s database provides necessary information to support public and private sectors to help decision making in the processes of pre-investment related to the use of natural resources.

Since the late 1990s Chile has undertaken a major water reform concerning the delivery of water
supply and sanitation services. As a result, provision of water infrastructure has dramatically increased in
line with the regionalisation and privatisation of water companies. Two-thirds of the urban population is
now connected to waste water treatment, and plans call for urban sewage treatment to continue to increase.
Full cost recovery pricing applies to public water supply and sewage treatment, in the context of price
regulation at the regional level and subsidies to the poorest 18-20% of the population. Water prices
increase in summer to reflect water scarcity. Minimum river flow is included in the 1994 General
Environmental Framework Law and is broadly taken into account in the allocation of surface water rights;
more specific legal provisions have been proposed for inclusion in the Water Code. A pioneering
nationwide system of tradable water rights was introduced for surface water and groundwater with the
1981 Water Code, but active trading remains mainly confined to some irrigated areas. There is high
compliance with the World Health Organization drinking water quality standards. Effluent discharge
standards were recently introduced for industry, covering both direct discharges and discharges to sewers.

People in Santiago, Chile, who make their living sorting through trash for recyclables have helped make Chile the world's third most efficient paper recycler. A high unemployment rate-- almost 10 percent--has forced people to turn to the streets, and some have formed an unofficial work force that salvages recyclables. More than 50,000 workers, called cartoneros, or "cardboard men," collect, sort, and recycle Santiago's waste. Sometimes the cartoneros are actually families who work specific spots regularly. They stack paper, cardboard, cans, electrical wire, and other recyclable materials on carts and sell them to recycling companies. Chile's biggest paper and card recycling company, SOREPA, reports that it recycled 60 percent of all the paper used in Chile last year. Because cartoneros collect so much of Santiago's recyclable waste, what they leave behind for wastemanagement authorities is much less trash. Although the government has recognized the cartoneros as a social and environmental service and some aut horities have tried to get them more official status, the workers are still marginalized, and they lack job security and benefits. Most cartoneros arrived at their profession through desperation, but street recycling has become safer and more organized than it once was. The Association of Independent Collectors, a type of union of collectors and some sorting facilities, has had some success conducting business with larger companies. Some cartoneros have negotiated with Coca-Cola to return used cans to them, which has enabled the workers to make enough money to purchase trucks. Cartoneros are sometimes able to earn more than minimum wage. The amount of money they bring in depends on which materials they sell to recyclers (drink cans are worth the most).

In July, consumer prices increased 0.23%, which was well above market expectations of no price variation and below the 0.43% increase observed in June. Housing costs experienced a notable upward shift and thus accounted for the lion share of the July price increase, which was mitigated only by lower prices for clothes. As a result of the July price increase, annual headline inflation rose from 1.1% in June to 1.4% in July. Moreover, the core inflation index, which excludes volatile categories such as oil and fresh fruits and vegetables, increased 0.40%, which took the annual rate from 0.6% in June to 1.0% in July. Prices thus are developing according to the Central Bank’s expectations, which had anticipated inflation returning to normal from a temporary deflationary period in the March/April period this year. In its last policy report from May 2004, the Central Bank confirmed that inflation should reach the central target of 3.0% within the usual policy horizon of 24 months. In order to achieve this objective the Central Bank is likely to maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance and should abstain from raising the benchmark policy rate - currently at 1.75% - in the near future despite the resilient economic growth figures. Consensus Forecast panellists share the inflation assessment of the Central Bank and again raised their year-end inflation forecast from 2.1% last month to 2.3%. By the end of 2005, inflation will reach 2.8%, according to the Consensus.

Chile is the world's largest producer of copper. It has the world's most productive mine at Chuquicamanta (in the northern region). Northern Chile also has rich, high-grade iron-ore deposits, mainly in the Coquimbo area. Most of the ore is exported, and the rest is used by the local iron and steel industry. Chile has the largest deposits of nitrate, in the Atacama Desert in the north. The mining and exporting of nitrate (used for fertilizers and for the production of high explosives) fluorished during the last quarter of the nineteenth and first quarter of the twentieth centuries.
Other minerals produced nowadays include: gold, silver, molybdenum, manganese, zinc, lead, baixite, sulfur, and potash. Uranium, cobalt, antimony, and tungsten are also mined.

Oil and natural gas fields, near the eastern outlet of the Strait of Magellan and the northern coast of Tierra del Fuego, produced 1,940,000 tons of oil and 4,358 million cubic meters of gas in 1986. In 1989 Chile's oil fields produced an average of 24,000 barrels per day. Coal production was 1.3 million tons in 1986.

This picture describes the Surface water withdrawals in Chile in 1987. The Darkish green represents, Industry. The purplish blue represents, Domestic, and the gray represents, Agriculture. The percentages fro all three categories are as shown. Agriculture, 84%. Indutry, 11%. Domestic, 5%.
Only 7.3% of the area in Chile is agriculturally productive. The Central Valley in central Chile is where arable land is concentrated mostly. In Northern region, Agriculture is largely dependent on supplying in areas that are, in fact, oases. Agriculture is mainly engaged in the making of cereals, fodde, sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables, and fruit.

Much of the fruit is exported to United States, Canada and Europe during the nrthern winter. Chile also exports and prduces a large amount of wine.

Mainly in central Chile and northern part of southern region, livestock is raised. Approximately 16% of Chile's area is classed as permanent grizing gound.11.4% of the area is covered by forest, mainly in the southern region, from which 18.5 million cubic meters of timber and pulp were produced in 1987.

Large estates occupy a substantial part of Chile's agriultural lands. These are remnant of the Spanish colonial period, when extensive land grants were made to army officers and colonial officials. In early 1920s, nearly 90% of the farmland in central Chile was in large estates. Although no official land reform has taken place, many of these estates were broken up and sold as small farms. This process is still going on. However, much of the agricultural land land is still cultivated by tenants or by hired labor; 13.6% of the workforce is employed in agriculture.