Two decades of continuos economic rise has transformed Santiago de Chile into one of the most modern metropolitan cities in South America. With more than 7 million people in the metropolitan area, Santiago de Chile is home to almost half of the Chilean population. Although Santiago is the capital, legislative bodies meet in the coastal town of Valparaíso, the most important seaport in Chile. Before the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the city served as a major stopover for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by crossing the Straits of Magellan.
