Chile Genealogy

South America Chile Guide to Chile ancestry, family history and genealogy''' birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Country Information
Chile is a country located on the southwestern part of South America. Its official name is the Republic of Chile and its capital is the city of Santiago de Chile.

Chile comprises a long narrow strip of land known as continental Chile, between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, which extends from 17 º 29'57 S and 56 º 32'S latitude (Islas Diego Ramírez ), bordered on the north by Peru, on the east by Bolivia and Argentina, and on the south by the Drake Passage. Also, Chile oversees island territories in the Pacific Ocean, such as the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Sala y Gómez, Desventuradas Islands, and Easter Island (located in Polynesia), totaling an area of ​​755,838.7 km².

Though Chile claims over one million square kilometers of Antarctica—called the Chilean Antarctic Territory and between the meridians 90 º and 53 º West, which prolongs Chile's claimed southern boundary to the South Pole—this claim is not recognized in accordance with the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty, which without Chile's signature constitutes a waiver by Chile. Due to its presence in South America, Oceania and Antarctica, Chile defines itself as a tri-continental country.

There are approximately 17 million inhabitants of Chile, and the per capita GDP and level of economic growth and quality of life are among the highest in Latin America.

Regions
Chile is politically divided into 15 regions, which are both named and numbered (designated by a Roman Numeral). Additionally each region is divided into several provinces. Understanding political divisions is essential to doing family history, because these divisions determine where records are recorded and archived.

More Chile Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for Chile.
 * Chile Locating Place of Origin
 * Chile Finding Records

More Chile Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools for Chile.
 * See FamilySearch Tutorials on Latin American Research.
 * Pacific Island Guide to Family History Research (Wiki article for Easter Island)
 * Research Guide: BYU Research Outline for Chile

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
 * FamilySearch Chile Record Collections
 * Family History Center locator map