Chile vs. Argentina
Government
| Chile | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Chile conventional short form: Chile local long form: Republica de Chile local short form: Chile etymology: derivation of the name is unclear, but it may come from the Mapuche word "chilli" meaning "limit of the earth" or from the Quechua "chiri" meaning "cold" | conventional long form: Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina etymology: originally the area was referred to as Tierra Argentina, i.e., "Land beside the Silvery River" or "silvery land," which referred to the massive estuary in the east of the country, the Rio de la Plata (River of Silver); over time the name shortened to simply Argentina or "silvery" |
| Government type | presidential republic | presidential republic |
| Capital | name: Santiago; note - Valparaiso is the seat of the national legislature geographic coordinates: 33 27 S, 70 40 W time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in August; ends second Sunday in May; note - Punta Arenas observes DST throughout the year note: Chile has three time zones: the continental portion at UTC-3; the southern Magallanes region, which does not use daylight savings time and remains at UTC-3 for the summer months; and Easter Island at UTC-5 etymology: Santiago is named after the biblical figure Saint James (ca. A.D. 3-44), patron saint of Spain, but especially revered in Galicia; "Santiago" derives from the local Galician evolution of the Vulgar Latin "Sanctu Iacobu"; Valparaiso derives from the Spanish "Valle Paraiso" meaning "Paradise Valley" | name: Buenos Aires geographic coordinates: 34 36 S, 58 22 W time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: the name translates as "fair winds" in Spanish and derives from the original designation of the settlement that would become the present-day city, "Santa Maria del Buen Aire" (Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) |
| Administrative divisions | 16 regions (regiones, singular - region); Aysen, Antofagasta, Araucania, Arica y Parinacota, Atacama, Biobio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Los Rios, Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena (Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica), Maule, Nuble, Region Metropolitana (Santiago), Tarapaca, Valparaiso note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica | 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 autonomous city*; Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires*, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur (Tierra del Fuego - Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands), Tucuman note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica |
| Independence | 18 September 1810 (from Spain) | 9 July 1816 (from Spain) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 18 September (1810) | Revolution Day (May Revolution Day), 25 May (1810) |
| Constitution | history: many previous; latest adopted 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981; a referendum held in late October 2020 approved forming a convention to draft a new constitution amendments: proposed by members of either house of the National Congress or by the president of the republic; passage requires at least three-fifths majority vote of the membership in both houses and approval by the president; passage of amendments to constitutional articles, such as the republican form of government, basic rights and freedoms, the Constitutional Tribunal, electoral justice, the Council of National Security, or the constitutional amendment process, requires at least two-third majority vote by both houses of Congress and approval by the president; the president can opt to hold a referendum when Congress and the president disagree on an amendment; amended many times, last in 2020 | history: several previous; latest effective 11 May 1853 amendments: a declaration of proposed amendments requires two-thirds majority vote by both houses of the National Congress followed by approval by an ad hoc, multi-member constitutional convention; amended several times, last significant amendment in 1994 |
| Legal system | civil law system influenced by several West European civil legal systems; judicial review of legislative acts by the Constitutional Tribunal | civil law system based on West European legal systems; note - in mid-2015, Argentina adopted a new civil code, replacing the old one in force since 1871 |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18-70 years of age; universal and compulsory; 16-17 years of age - optional for national elections |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Sebastian PINERA Echenique (since 11 March 2018); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Sebastian PINERA Echenique (since 11 March 2018) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a single 4-year term; election last held on 19 November 2017 with a runoff held 17 December 2017 (next to be held on 21 November 2021 with runoff if need on 19 December) election results: 2017: Sebastian PINERA Echenique elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Sebastian PINERA Echenique (independent) 36.6%; Alejandro GUILLIER (independent) 22.7%; Beatriz SANCHEZ (independent) 20.3%; Jose Antonio KAST (independent) 7.9%; Carolina GOIC (PDC) 5.9%; Marco ENRIQUEZ-OMINAMI (PRO) 5.7%; other 0.9%; percent of vote in second round - Sebastian PINERA Echenique 54.6%, Alejandro GUILLIER 45.4% 2013: Michelle BACHELET Jeria elected president in runoff; percent of vote - Michelle BACHELET Jeria (PS/New Majority) 62.2%; Evelyn Rose MATTHEI Fornet (UDI/Let's Go Chile Coalition) 37.8% | chief of state: President Alberto Angel FERNANDEZ (since 10 December 2019); Vice President Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (since 10 December 2019); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government (2019) head of government: President Alberto Angel FERNANDEZ (since 10 December 2019); Vice President Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (since 10 December 2019) (2018) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president (2017) elections/appointments: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by qualified majority vote (to win, a candidate must receive at least 45% of votes or 40% of votes and a 10-point lead over the second place candidate; if neither occurs, a second round is held ); the president serves a 4-year term (eligible for a second consecutive term); election last held on 27 October 2019 (next to be held in October 2023) election results: 2019: Alberto Angel FERNANDEZ elected president; percent of vote - Alberto Angel FERNANDEZ (TODOS) 48.1%, Mauricio MACRI (PRO) 40.4%, Roberto LAVAGNA (independent) 6.2%, other 5.3% 2015: Mauricio MACRI elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Daniel SCIOLI (PJ) 37.1%, Mauricio MACRI (PRO) 34.2%, Sergio MASSA (FR/PJ) 21.4%, other 7.3%; percent of vote in second round - Mauricio MACRI (PRO) 51.4%, Daniel SCIOLI (PJ) 48.6% |
| Legislative branch | description: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of: Senate or Senado (43 seats; increases to 50 for 2021 election); members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by open party-list proportional representation vote to serve 8-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 4 years) Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (155 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by open party-list proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms) elections: Senate - last held on 19 November 2017 (next to be held on 21 November 2021) Chamber of Deputies - last held on 19 November 2017 (next to be held on 21 November 2021) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - New Majority Coalition (formerly known as Concertacion) 19 (PDC 6, PS 6, PPD 6, MAS 1), Let's Go Chile Coalition (formerly known as the Coalition for Change and the Alianza coalition) 15 (RN 6, UDI 8, Amplitude Party 1), independent 4; composition - men 33, women 10, percent of women 23.3% Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - New Majority 68 (PDC 21, PS 16, PPD 14, PC 6, PRSD 6, Citizen Left 1, independent 4), Coalition for Change 47 (UDI 29, RN 14, independent 3, EP 1), Liberal Party 1, independent 4; composition -men 120, women 35, percent of women 22.6%; note - total National Congress percent of women 22.7% | description: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of: Senate (72 seats; members directly elected on a provincial basis with 2 seats awarded to the party with the most votes and 1 seat to the party with the second highest number of votes; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method; members serve 4-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 2 years) elections: Senate - last held on 27 October 2019 (next to be held on 24 October 2021) Chamber of Deputies - last held on 27 October 2019 (next to be held on 24 October 2021) election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - TODOS 13, Cambiemos 8, FCS 2, JSRN 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - TODOS 64, Cambiemos 56, CF 3, FCS 3, JSRN 1, other 3 |
| Judicial branch | highest courts: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (consists of a court president and 20 members or ministros); Constitutional Court (consists of 10 members); Elections Qualifying Court (consists of 5 members) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court president and judges (ministers) appointed by the president of the republic and ratified by the Senate from lists of candidates provided by the court itself; judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 70; Constitutional Court members appointed - 3 by the Supreme Court, 3 by the president of the republic, 2 by the Chamber of Deputies, and 2 by the Senate; members serve 9-year terms with partial membership replacement every 3 years (the court reviews constitutionality of legislation); Elections Qualifying Court members appointed by lottery - 1 by the former president or vice president of the Senate and 1 by the former president or vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, 2 by the Supreme Court, and 1 by the Appellate Court of Valparaiso; members appointed for 4-year terms subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; oral criminal tribunals; military tribunals; local police courts; specialized tribunals and courts in matters such as family, labor, customs, taxes, and electoral affairs | highest courts: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (consists of the court president, vice president, and 5 justices) judge selection and term of office: justices nominated by the president and approved by the Senate; justices can serve until mandatory retirement at age 75; extensions beyond 75 require renomination by the president and approval by the Senate subordinate courts: federal level appellate, district, and territorial courts; provincial level supreme, appellate, and first instance courts |
| Political parties and leaders | Amplitude (Amplitud) [Lily PEREZ] Broad Front Coalition (Frente Amplio) or FA (includes RD, PL, PH, PEV, Igualdad, and Poder) [Beatriz SANCHEZ] Broad Social Movement of Leftist Citizens (includes former MAS and Izquierda Ciudadana) [Fernando ZAMORANO] Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Fuad CHAHIN] Citizen Power (Poder) [Karina OLIVA] Communist Party of Chile or PC [Guillermo TEILLIER del Valle] Democratic Revolution or RD [Rodrigo ECHECOPAR] Equality Party (Igualdad) [Guillermo GONZALEZ] Green Ecological Party or PEV [Felix GONZALEZ] Humanist Party or PH [Octavio GONZALEZ] Independent Democratic Union or UDI [Jacqueline VAN RYSSELBERGHE Herrera]) Independent Regionalist Democratic Party or PRI [Hugo ORTIZ de Filippi] Let's Go Chile Coalition (Chile Vamos) [Sebastian PINERA] (includes EVOPOLI, PRI, RN, UDI) Liberal Party (Partido Liberal de Chile) or PL [Luis Felipe RAMOS] National Renewal or RN [Mario DESBORDES] New Majority Coalition (Nueva Mayoria) [Michelle BACHELET] (includes PDC, PC, PPD, PRSD, PS); note - dissolved in March 2018 Party for Democracy or PPD [Heraldo MUNOZ] Political Evolution or EVOPOLI [Hernan LARRAIN MATTE] Progressive Party or PRO [Camilo LAGOS] Radical Social Democratic Party or PRSD [Carlos MALDONADO Curti], Socialist Party or PS [Alvaro ELIZALDE Soto] (formerly known as Concertacion) | Argentina Federal [coalition led by Pablo KOSINER] Cambiemos [Mauricio MACRI] (coalition of CC-ARI, PRO, and UCR) Citizen's Unity or UC [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER] Civic Coalition ARI or CC-ARI [Elisa CARRIO, Maximiliano FERRARO] Civic Front for Santiago or FCS [Gerardo ZAMORA] Everyone's Front (Frente de Todos) or TODOS [Alberto Angel FERNANDEZ] Federal Consensus or CF [Roberto LAVAGNA, Juan Manuel URTUBEY] Front for the Renewal of Concord or FRC Front for Victory or FpV [coalition led by Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER and Agustin ROSSI] Generation for a National Encounter or GEN [Monica PERALTA] Justicialist Party or PJ [Miguel Angel PICHETTO] Radical Civic Union or UCR [Alfredo CORNEJO] Renewal Front (Frente Renovador) or FR [Sergio MASSA] Republican Proposal or PRO [Mauricio MACRI, Humberto SCHIAVONI] Socialist Party or PS [Antonio BONFATTI] Socialist Workers' Party or PTS [Jose MONTES] Together We Are Rio Negro or JSRN [Alberto Edgardo WERETILNECK] We Do For Cordoba (Hacemos Por Cordoba) or HC [Juan SCHIARETTI] Workers' Party or PO [Jorge ALTAMIRA] Worker's Socialist Movement or MST [Alejandro BODDART; Vilma RIPOLL] numerous provincial parties |
| International organization participation | APEC, BIS, CAN (associate), CD, CELAC, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OECD (enhanced engagement), OPANAL, OPCW, Pacific Alliance, PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (associate), CD, CELAC, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina (observer), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Oscar Alfonso Sebastian SILVA Navarro (since 17 September 2018) chancery: 1732 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 785-1746 FAX: [1] (202) 887-5579 email address and website: echile.eeuu@minrel.gob.cl https://chile.gob.cl/estados-unidos/en/ consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco | chief of mission: Ambassador Jorge Martin Arturo ARGUELLO (since 6 February 2020) chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400 FAX: [1] (202) 332-3171 email address and website: eeeuu@mrecic.gov.ar https://eeeuu.cancilleria.gob.ar/en consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington, DC |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Richard H. GLENN (since August 2020) embassy: Avenida Andres Bello 2800, Las Condes, Santiago mailing address: 3460 Santiago Place, Washington DC 20521-3460 telephone: [56] (2) 2330-3000 FAX: [56] (2) 2330-3710 email address and website: SantiagoUSA@state.gov https://cl.usembassy.gov/ | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires MaryKay CARLSON (since 20 January 2021) embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, (C1425GMN) Buenos Aires mailing address: 3130 Buenos Aires Place, Washington DC 20521-3130 telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533 FAX: [54] (11) 5777-4240 email address and website: buenosaires-acs@state.gov https://ar.usembassy.gov/ |
| Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; a blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of the white band; the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center representing a guide to progress and honor; blue symbolizes the sky, white is for the snow-covered Andes, and red represents the blood spilled to achieve independence note: design influenced by the US flag | three equal horizontal bands of sky blue (top), white, and sky blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face (delineated in brown) known as the Sun of May; the colors represent the clear skies and snow of the Andes; the sun symbol commemorates the appearance of the sun through cloudy skies on 25 May 1810 during the first mass demonstration in favor of independence; the sun features are those of Inti, the Inca god of the sun |
| National anthem | name: "Himno Nacional de Chile" (National Anthem of Chile) lyrics/music: Eusebio LILLO Robles and Bernardo DE VERA y Pintado/Ramon CARNICER y Battle note: music adopted 1828, original lyrics adopted 1818, adapted lyrics adopted 1847; under Augusto PINOCHET's military rule, a verse glorifying the army was added; however, as a protest, some citizens refused to sing this verse; it was removed when democracy was restored in 1990 | name: "Himno Nacional Argentino" (Argentine National Anthem) lyrics/music: Vicente LOPEZ y PLANES/Jose Blas PARERA note: adopted 1813; Vicente LOPEZ was inspired to write the anthem after watching a play about the 1810 May Revolution against Spain |
| International law organization participation | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| National symbol(s) | huemul (mountain deer), Andean condor; national colors: red, white, blue | Sun of May (a sun-with-face symbol); national colors: sky blue, white |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent only: yes dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years | citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent only: yes dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 2 years |
Source: CIA Factbook
