2. flag During its struggle for independence the government of Jose Miguel Carrera created the first national flag of the country. On July 4th 1812 the flag was raised for the first time during a banquet, celebrating the independence of United States. On September 30th 1812 the seal and the flag the the Old County were adapted. On 18th October 1817 the flag of transition was adapted. This flag had blue, white and red stripes. The color red had replaced the yellow color of the previous flag. Finally on October 18, 1817 the current flag was adopted as the official flag by the Bernardo O'Higgins' government.

3. Independence

8. Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers.

9. Famous Woman Michelle Bachelet is a divorced mother of three, a self-described socialist and an unapologetic atheist, an unlikely profile for the president of Chile, a conservative, Catholic country, which elected her in 2006, the first woman to rise to the top of the dominantly male hierarchy.

10. Chilean Earthquake On February 27, 2010, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake shook 6 Chilean regions for more than 90 seconds. The earthquake was felt in a few cities in Argentina, as well as Peru. The earthquake triggered a tsunami and warnings were issued to 53 countries. In addition to this, the quake also cause a blackout, effecting 93% of the population. There are 521 known deaths.

11. Citations www.nytimes.com www.geographia.com www.kwintessential.co.uk news.bbc.co.uk