Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/833

 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. .

48,000

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