This zone has a mediterranean climate with four well-defined seasons. Santiago is Chile's capital and largest city mixed with modern skyscrapers and 19th-century European architectures. The Plaza de Armas, the Museo Historico Nacional, the Casa Colorada, the Museo Precolombino, the Plaza de la Constitucion, and the Cerro Santa Lucia, are touring highlights of beautiful Santiago.

Santiago is divided into 32 districts or "comunas". Downtown Santiago contains the central offices of the banks and the Government buildings. Commercial businesses are starting to move towards the east of the city, to the comuna of Providencia, where our school is located. Most hotels, commercial, banking and entertainment areas are located in this borough.

Temperatures
Santiago, due to its position in the central region, has a Mediterranean climate with well-defined seasons. Spring, between September and November is mild, which contributes to the flourishing green color of the plants and trees. Summer, between December and February, is dry and hot with temperatures that can reach over 30°C (87º F). At night it cools down slightly, and on the coast this temperature drop can be much more extreme.

Autumn is between March and May, and temperatures decrease gradually. In winter, mornings are cold, some as low as -2º C (28º F) and although the temperature rises at midday it rarely exceeds 15°C (60ºF).

Arriving in Santiago By Air:

With the advent of airline ‘alliances’, you can pretty much mix and match flight connections without expecting to pay more than a direct flight, but if you absolutely detest the idea of hopping from one plane to the other, several airlines have non-stop, daily services to and from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. All major cities in South America have non-stop flights to Santiago.

From North America: American Airlines and LAN Airlines have non-stop services to and from Miami and Dallas (please visit www.lan.com , where you can book and pay for your tickets). Delta Airlines has direct flights to Atlanta. LAN Airlines flies to Los Angeles and New York with transit in Lima or Miami. LAN Airlines and AeroMexico fly non-stop to Mexico City and Cancun daily. Air Canada flies to and from Toronto several times a week.

From Europe: Air France flies non-stop, five times a week between Paris and Santiago. Iberia, LAN Airlines and the low-cost carrier Air Comet all have non-stop services to and from Madrid. Swiss Airlines flies to and from Zurich, all the way through with a short transit in Sao Paulo.

From Asia Pacific: LAN Airlines has six services a week to and from Auckland, with continuing flights to Sydney and two weekly flights to and from Easter Island with a final leg to Papeete.

All flights arrive at Santiago’s International Airport, Arturo Merino Benitez, which lies at around 30 minutes from the city’s centre. We can arrange the airport pick-up service from the airport.

Demographics
According to data collected in the 2002 census by the National Institute of statistics, the Santiago metropolitan area population reached 5.428.590 inhabitants, equivalent to 35.91% of the national total and 89.56 % of total regional inhabitants.

Economy
Santiago is the industrial and financial centre of Chile, and generates 45% of the country's GDP. In recent years, due to the strong growth and stability of the Chilean economy, many multinational companies have chosen Santiago as the place for their headquarters in the region.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT :
Santiago de Chile is actually served by an extensive, cheap and efficient public transport service. The city has a centralised system of modern articulated buses that link to both the Metro and to peripheral small bus routes.One of the features of this new system is that for the first time, pre-pay smart cards are the only means of hopping onto a bus or the metro. The system allows for up to three connections to be made between any means of transport within 2 hours for the price of a single ride plus a small supplement for each additional combination. As a visitor, you’ll find more onsite information that you could ever dreamed.

Metro/Subway: With 107 stations currently in operation and 16 under construction, the Santiago Metro is South America's most extensive metro system. Santiago’s metro should take you to most places you will want to visit. It’s clean, modern and safe, and it will most probably become your preferred choice of transport, unless of course, you can afford to regularly hail down taxis. For Metro and Buses, you will need to buy a pre-pay Bip! card, which is sold in newsstands and other outlets (www.bip.cl).

Commuter Rail: The company Trenes Metropolitanos S.A. provides suburban rail service under the brandname of Metrotren. There is only one southbound route, serving 18 stations between the Central Station of Santiago at Alameda and San Fernando, via Paine and Graneros.

Bus: Transantiago Bus is the name for the city's public transport system. It works by combining local (feeder) bus lines, main bus lines and the Metro network. It includes an integrated fare system, which allows passengers to make bus-to-bus or bus-to-metro transfers for the price of one ticket, using a single contactless smartcard. Fares cannot be paid in cash.

Taxi: Many visitors take advantage of the fact that taxis in Santiago are safe, comfortable and relatively inexpensive. Taxicabs are common in Santiago and are painted black with yellow roofs and have orange license plates. So-called radiotaxis may be called up by telephone and can be any make, model, or color but should always have the orange plates. Colectivos are shared taxicabs that carry passengers along a specific route for a fixed fee. Santiago also has some illegal taxis without the orange plates indicating proper licensing. These are especially common near the airport and should generally be avoided for safety.

Transport

Air: Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport is Santiago's national and international airport. 15 minutes from downtown through the urban highways (Costanera Norte-Vespucio Norte).

Rail: Central Station Trains operated by Chile's national railway, connect Santiago to Chillan, in the central-southern part of the country. All such trains arrive and depart from the Estación Central ("Central Station") which can be accessed by bus or subway.

Inter-urban buses: Bus companies provide passenger transportation from Santiago to most areas of the country, while some also provide parcel-shipping and delivery services.

Highways: Toll road, inter-urban free flow highways connect the city's extremes, including the Vespucio Highway (which surrounds the city describing a semicircle), Autopista Central (which crosses the city in a North-South direction), and the Costanera Norte (which runs from the eastern edge, in Las Condes to the international airport and the highways to Valparaíso on the western side of the city).

Safety and security
Santiago is a fairly safe destination and crime is not really a great concern. The risk of terrorism in Santiago is very low.

Telecommunications and Internet
Chile has an excellent telecommunication infrastructure, and with rife competition among different service providers, you’re guaranteed low costs for national and international calls.

Mobile phones: Seven out of ten Chileans have a teléfono celular. A good, cheap alternative to stay in touch is to buy a Chilean sim card. Some companies sell standalone sim cards for around US$9 , and top up cards can be purchased from newsstands and cornershops. Do check that your mobile phone supports the Chilean GSM frequency GSM-1900 (in other words, that it is a tri-band phone).

Internet: there are many ‘Cybercafés’ with broad-band Internet connection. Also, there are WiFi networks in operation at many libraries, cafes and University campuses. Many neighborhoods are also WiFi enabled.