SHIPPING AND NAVIGATION — COMMUNICATIONS
711
The foreign trade is distributed over about 15 ports, the principal of which are Iquique, Valparaiso, Pisagua, Coquimbo, Coronal, Talcahuano, Corral, and Antofagasta.
The chief imports into, and domestic exports from the United Kingdom (Board of Trade Returns) from and to Chile in two years, were as follows (but of the metal imports here given large quantities are really from Bolivia) : —
liui)orts
1910
1911
Exports
1910
1011
£
£
£
£
Nitrate . . .
1,112,041
1,157,223
1 Cottons . . .
1,391,941
1,400,688
Copper . . .
745,613
450,152
Woollens . . .
668,85(J
716,496
Copper ore . .
4()8,000
428,637
Ironwork . . .
792,143
910,815
Till ore . . .
235,765
208,801
Coal ....
708,766
594,315
Wool ....
833,314
660,445
Machinery . .
382 177
639,465
New ships . .
0,760
41,780
Total trade between Chile and United Kingdom for 5 years : —
—
1908
1900
1910
1911
1912
Imports from Chile to U.K. Exports to Chile from U.K.
£ 6,663.480 3,866,440
£
5,508,589 4,632,022
£ 5,181,737
5,470,556
£
4,336,878 6,139,410
£ 4,983,000 6,165,000
Shippings and Navigation.
The commercial navy of Chile consisted, in 1911, of 84 steamers of 69,604 tons net and 91 sailing vessels of 52,918 tons net. The shipping entered and cleared at the ports of Chile in 1911 was as follows :— Entered 14,698 vessels of 26,164,068 tons; cleared, 14,649 of 25,941,833 tons.
The Chilian 'South American Steamboat Company,' with 12 steamers for general navigation and 7 for river navigation, receives an annual sub- vention. The vessels of the company ply between South American Pacific ports, but do not now go to San Francisco in California. Other steamship lines on the coast are those of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company (British), with 43 steamers, and the lines of 6 other British companies, the Kosmos Steamship Company (German), ard the Eoland line (German), the Italian Lloyd del Pacifico has begun a service between Genoa and Chilian ports.
Communications.
In 1910 there were in Chile 15,000 miles of public road, and 972 miles of navigable river.
In 1911 the total length of railway lines open for traffic was 3,952 English miles, of which 1,979 belonged to the State. Mileage under construction, 1,828. Number of passengers carried (1911), 11,164,444, The trans-Andine railway has been completed by a line from Los Andes to the summit of the Cordillera, joining one of the same gauge (1 m^tre) from Mendoza. The whole line was opened for traffic in. April, 1910. The Arica to La Paz railway was^ opened on Aug. 6, 1912. It has a length of 266 miles, of which 127 are in Chile and 139 in Bolivia. The cost was 2,450,000^.
The post-office in 1911 dispatched 73,393,296 postal packets, of \^hich
