Tricontinental Chile (Spanish: Chile tricontinental) is a geopolitical concept denoting Chile's unique position with its mainland in South America, Easter Island in Oceania (Polynesia) and the Chilean Antarctic Territory in Antarctica.[1] This concept is built on the basis that there are Chilean territories as far away from the mainland as to be considered part of Polynesia and on a larger scale, Oceania, and Chile's claims to Antarctica provide it a basis for claiming to be a part of Antarctica as well.
Chile in the Pacific
The definition of Chile as a tricontinental country necessarily implies a focus of its foreign policy on the Pacific Ocean. By virtue of the above, the Chilean government has developed the concept of the in-person sea, which consists of promoting and deepening its influence in its exclusive economic zone of the Pacific Ocean, in which its territories and claims are concentrated. Law No. 19080, published in September 1991, defines the Chilean sea as "that part of the high seas, existing for the international community between the limit of our continental exclusive economic zone and the meridian that, passing through the border "West of the continental shelf of Easter Island, it extends from the parallel of milestone No. 1 of the international border line that separates Chile and Peru, to the South Pole." The foreign policy of the Chilean state considers both the signing of international agreements and unilateral actions with the purpose of exercising a guarantor role in the activities carried out in this space, such as fishing, scientific research and maritime traffic. Furthermore, Chile claims the continental shelves in its territories on the three continents and outside them.[2]
Continental Chile corresponds to the strip of territory along the southwestern coast of South America and its adjacent islands. Almost the entire population lives in continental Chile, which extends from 17°30’ S, at the border with Peru and Bolivia, to the Diego Ramírez Islands at 56°30’ S. The maximum width of 445 km (277 mi) is at 52°21’ S, at the Strait of Magellan, whilst the minimum width is at 31°37’ S between Punta Amolanas and Paso de la Casa de Piedra.
Insular Chile consists of a group of islands of volcanic origin in the South Pacific, far from the continental coast. In the eastern group are the Juan Fernández Islands and the Desventuradas Islands, which are grouped with South America, while Easter Island and the Isla Salas y Gómez geographically belong to Polynesia in Oceania. Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), is the westernmost part of Chile, situated at 27°S and 109°W.
The Chilean Antarctic Territory is a claim of 1,250,000 km2 (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica between 53°W and 90°W and from 60°S to the South Pole, overlapping with the claims of Argentina and the United Kingdom. As a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty System, Chile has accepted the suspension of its claims of sovereignty without renouncing them, as well as the establishment of a conservation zone for scientific development.
If the Antarctic claim was included, the total area of Chile would be 2,006,096 km2 (774,558 sq mi), while the distance between the northern and southern extremes would be more than 8,000 km (5,000 mi).
