Most Chileans are Roman Catholic and the religion has played a large role in defining social and political life.
Greeting-wise, men usually shake hands in the traditional fashion but women generally pat each other on the right forearm or shoulder.
When on a holiday in Chile, make sure to sample some of the country’s culinary specialities include empanadas (a combination of meat, chicken or fish with onions, eggs, raisins and olives inside a flour pastry), cazuela de ave (soup with rice, vegetables, chicken and herbs) and bife a lobre (steak with fries, onions and eggs).
Seafood such as clams, sole, sea bass and oysters are also popular.
Chile is also famous for its wine and you’ll obviously need to taste a few glasses to find your favourite.
Famous Chileans include Pablo Neruda, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 – you can visit his house/museum in Valparaiso – and former footballer Manuel Pellegrini who, at the time of writing, is the manager of Manchester City.
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