Santiago Chile

Santiago (officially in Spanish Santiago de Chile) is Chile's capital and largest city. It is situated in the country's central valley, and administratively is a part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. 

Climate 

Santiago has a mild Mediterranean climate: relatively hot dry summers (November to March) with temperatures reaching up to 35 degrees Celsius on the hottest days; winters (June to August) are more humid, with typical maximum daily temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius, and minimums of a few degrees above freezing. Mean rainfall is 360 mm per year. 

Thermal inversion (a metrological phenomenon whereby a stable layer of warm air holds down colder air close to the ground) causes high levels of smog and air pollution to be trapped and concentrate within the Central Valley during winter months. The government has attempted to reduce pollution by giving incentives for heavy industry to move out of the valley but such measures have seen limited results. 

The Mapocho river, which crosses the city from the north-east to the south-west of the Central Valley, is contaminated by industrial and household sewage, dumped unfiltered into the river, and by upstream copper-mining waste (there are a number of copper mines in the Andes east of Santiago). The central government recently passed a law that forces industry and local governments to process all their wastewater by 2006. There are now a number of large wastewater processing and recycling plants under construction. 

Transportation 

Santiago's national and international airport is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport and ranks high regionally in terms of quality. Trains connect Santiago to Puerto Montt, in the central-southern part of the country. All such trains arrive and depart from the Estación Central ("Central Station"). Private inter-urban bus companies provide excellent and cheap transportation from Santiago to virtually any part of the country. There are also several new inter-urban toll highways connecting the city's extremes; some of these are still under construction. 

Santiago's urban passenger transportation system includes an extensive, if chaotic, privately run bus service as well as a subway. The buses are known as micros (for microbus) and are typically colored yellow. This bus system will be completely replaced in late 2006 by a new system, which includes new routes and larger, newer buses, with a better payment system, compatible with the subway. The subway is clean and safe and has three operating lines but their coverage is still somewhat limited. The Government is building an additional subway line (Line 4), and extensions to Lines 1 and 2.