Quiz of the Day
Chile & the Andes
Friday, 18 September 2026
Chile declared independence on 18 Sep 1810 — covering Chilean culture plus the geography, wildlife and peoples of the Andes.
1. Chile's first national government junta on September 18, 1810 began its independence from which colonial power?
- France
- Spain
- Britain
- Portugal
Chile marks September 18, 1810 as the start of its independence, when a national junta was formed in Santiago after Napoleon deposed Spain's king. Full independence was not formally declared until 1818, following years of fighting led by figures like Bernardo O'Higgins. The anniversary is celebrated each year as the 'Fiestas Patrias.'
2. What is the capital city of Chile?
- Antofagasta
- Valparaíso
- Concepción
- Santiago
Santiago was founded in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia and sits in a valley framed by the snow-capped Andes. It is home to roughly a third of Chile's population. Interestingly, Chile's national congress meets not in Santiago but in the coastal city of Valparaíso.
3. The Andes mountain range runs along which side of South America?
- Central interior
- Eastern coast
- Western coast
- Northern coast
The Andes stretch about 7,000 kilometers down the western edge of South America, making them the longest continental mountain range on Earth. They pass through seven countries, including Chile, Argentina, Peru and Colombia. The range was formed by the Nazca tectonic plate diving beneath the South American plate.
4. Which desert in northern Chile is known as the driest non-polar place on Earth?
- Atacama Desert
- Sonoran Desert
- Kalahari Desert
- Patagonian Desert
The Atacama Desert receives so little rainfall that some weather stations have never recorded any at all. Its clear, dry skies make it one of the world's premier sites for astronomical observatories. Despite the aridity, the desert occasionally erupts into a 'desierto florido' when rare rains trigger blooming wildflowers.
5. What is the official currency of Chile?
- Peso
- Real
- Bolívar
- Sol
The Chilean peso has been the country's currency for most of its modern history, with the current version introduced in 1975. Prices are often written with a dollar sign, since the peso and dollar historically shared the symbol. Chile also uses a special inflation-indexed unit called the Unidad de Fomento for many financial contracts.
6. The Inca Empire, which once extended into northern Chile, had its capital in which Andean city?
- Bogotá
- Quito
- Cusco
- La Paz
Cusco, in present-day Peru, was the political and religious heart of the Inca Empire and was laid out in the shape of a puma. The Incas called their empire Tawantinsuyu, meaning 'the four regions together.' At its height, the empire's road network stretched roughly 40,000 kilometers through the Andes, reaching into what is now Chile.
7. Which domesticated Andean camelid was traditionally used as a pack animal to carry loads through the mountains?
- Tapir
- Vicuña
- Llama
- Guanaco
The llama was domesticated in the Andes thousands of years ago from the wild guanaco and became essential for transporting goods across steep terrain. A healthy llama can carry loads of around 25 to 30 kilograms for many kilometers a day. When overloaded or annoyed, a llama may lie down, refuse to move, or spit.
8. Which peak in the Andes is the highest mountain in the Americas?
- Aconcagua
- Chimborazo
- Ojos del Salado
- Huascarán
Aconcagua, in western Argentina near the Chilean border, rises about 6,961 meters, making it the highest mountain outside of Asia. Its name is thought to come from Indigenous words meaning 'stone sentinel.' Because it can be climbed without technical mountaineering gear on its normal route, it attracts thousands of trekkers each year.
9. Which lively couple's dance is recognized as the national dance of Chile?
- The samba
- The tango
- The cueca
- The cumbia
The cueca was officially declared Chile's national dance in 1979 and is performed enthusiastically during the September independence celebrations. Dancers wave white handkerchiefs and circle one another in a courtship ritual often said to mimic a rooster pursuing a hen. Regional variations of the dance exist across the country's long north-to-south territory.
10. Chile's Easter Island in the Pacific is famous for what kind of monumental carved figures?
- Totem poles
- Stone lions
- Terracotta warriors
- Moai statues
Easter Island, known to its Polynesian people as Rapa Nui, was annexed by Chile in 1888. Its nearly 900 moai statues were carved from volcanic rock between roughly 1400 and 1650 and can weigh many tons. Evidence suggests the islanders 'walked' the statues into place by rocking them upright, rather than dragging them flat.
11. The Andean condor, a national symbol of Chile, is notable for being among the world's largest birds of what type?
- Songbirds
- Flightless birds
- Flying birds
- Swimming birds
The Andean condor has a wingspan reaching about 3.3 meters, among the largest of any flying land bird. As a vulture, it soars on mountain air currents searching for carrion, sometimes gliding for hours without a single wingbeat. It appears on Chile's national coat of arms alongside the huemul deer.
12. Which Chilean poet won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971?
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Octavio Paz
- Vicente Huidobro
- Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda, born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971 and is celebrated for works like 'Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.' He also served as a diplomat and senator and kept eccentric, ship-themed houses along the Chilean coast. His pen name honored the Czech writer Jan Neruda.
13. Which Chilean poet became the first Latin American author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945?
- Marta Brunet
- Isabel Allende
- Nicanor Parra
- Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral, the pen name of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945, becoming the first Latin American to receive it. A rural schoolteacher before her literary fame, she wrote deeply about children, motherhood and grief. Her portrait has appeared on Chilean banknotes.
14. Chile is credited with rediscovering which 'lost' Bordeaux red wine grape that had been widely mistaken for Merlot?
- Malbec
- Carménère
- Syrah
- Tannat
Carménère was nearly wiped out in its native Bordeaux by the phylloxera blight of the 19th century, but it survived in Chilean vineyards where growers had planted it believing it was Merlot. Its true identity was confirmed in 1994 through DNA and ampelographic study. Chile has since embraced Carménère as a signature wine grape.
15. Which wild Andean camelid is prized for producing one of the world's finest and most expensive natural fibers?
- Vicuña
- Alpaca
- Bactrian camel
- Llama
The vicuña, a small wild relative of the llama, grows an extraordinarily soft, warm coat that yields one of the rarest and priciest fibers on the planet. During the Inca era its wool was reserved for royalty, and animals were sheared in communal roundups rather than killed. Today vicuña populations are protected, having recovered from near-extinction in the 20th century.