Why Chile is so long and so thin

Transcript

Let's take a look at Chile. Um, not this Chile. This Chile. Ever wondered why it's so ridiculously long? To put it in perspective, Chile would stretch from London all the way to Baghdad, but in some places it's less than 60 miles wide. So how did a country end up shaped like this? Before the 15th century, South America was home to numerous indigenous peoples. But then Europeans arrived. And diplomacy happened. Look at these beautiful empty lands! Actually, we live here. Anyway, as I was saying, look at these beautiful empty lands! So by the mid-16th century, almost the entire continent was controlled by Spain and Portugal. After the Wars of Independence, new countries began to form, including Chile, which at first looked like this. Time to expand our country. Let's move east into the continent. Oh, okay. Let's go south. Geography played a key role here, because Chile is literally squeezed between the ocean and the longest mountain chain in the world. So when you can't grow wider, you grow longer. This is how the country expanded southward along the Andes, all the way to the end of the continent. And in the north, there was a war with Bolivia and Peru. As a result of the war, Chile annexed part of the coastline and took the shape we know today. Dude, where is my ocean?

Transcribed automatically from the video, so small errors are possible.