Chile is a Spanish-speaking country on the western coast of South America.  Its surrounded by Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, and is super long and thin, stretching over 4300km (2700 miles) down the coast of South America, but being only 240km (150 miles) at its widest point. This means that Chile is over 18 times long as it is wide and is also the 38th largest country in the world.

The country basically has everything - the active volcanoes and towering mountains of the Andes to the east of the country, ancient forests and vast lakes within the Lake District, an expansive and inhospitable desert in the form of the Atacama desert in the north of Chile and beautiful beaches lining the Pacific Ocean to the west of the country.

Along with stunning scenery, there is also an abundance of fascinating wildlife in Chile.  In the north, the Reserva Naconal de Pinguino de Humboldt is home to a variety of birds and marine mammals, including sealions, bottle-nose dolphins, Humboldt penguins and Chilean pelicans. Finally, Patagonia in the south has sea lions, porpoises and seabirds abound along the coast. The forest and pampas of Torres del Paine are home to guanacos, foxes, llamas, pumas, ñandús (a South American ostrich), condors and flamingos. Near Punta Arenas are some colonies of Magellanic penguins.

Chile's capital, Santiago, is situated in the country's central valley and is the 5th largest city in South America.  Almost a third of the entire population of Chile live in Santiago which has a population of over 5 million. The city is split by the Rio Mapocho which weaves from east to west and marks the northern border of the city centre.

So yes... this is where I'll be spending a YEAR! Jealous?