Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Coordinates: 33 26 S 70 40 W

Population: 5,623,000 (2007 est.)

For Chileans, February 12th marks an important moment in the history of their country. On this day in 1541, Pedro de Valdivia, a Spanish conquistador, founded Santiago de Nueva Extremadura on Saint Lucia Hill overlooking the Mapocho River. Present-day Santiago eventually grew to fill most of the basin of the same name and currently ranks as the sixth largest city in South American and the tenth most populous in the Western Hemisphere. In fact, approximately 90 percent of the entire country lives within 200 miles of the capital. Further establishing its status as a modern urban center of global importance, Santiago will unveil the Costanera Center in 2010, a massive project in the Central Business District that will boast the tallest building in South America when complete. Señor de Valdivia almost certainly would have been impressed by the view.

Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.