This area has the most populated cities, including Santiago, our nation's capital, with a population near six million.From every corner of this magnificent city, you can look at the Andes Mountain and appreciate its beauty, especially in winter when the snowy peaks enlighten Santiago's every day scenery. This particular area has an extension of 500 kilometers from north to south and it has many interesting places worth mentioning. Very close to Santiago on the eastern mountain side we find several ski resorts, considered by many some of the best in the world, these are Valle Nevado, La Parva, El Colorado, Farellones and, to the north, Portillo, only an hour from the international airport of Santiago, this gives an extra incentive to visit Chile, especially since they are fully operational in what is summer in the Northern Hemisphere.To the south of Santiago, we have an important ski resort and all-year hot springs area at the Termas de Chillán, next to Chillán volcano.The seaside area, very near Santiago is full of attractive cities and towns, beginning with Viña del Mar, considered the garden city because of its precious gardens, like the Botanico located in the middle of the city. Small and perhaps more charming are Zapallar, Cachagua, Maitencillo, Santo Domingo and Algarrobo, Isla Negra, site of the home/museum of worldwide known poet, Pablo Neruda, and farther north, Las Tacas and Tongoy Resorts.Further north you'll find La Serena, a booming center of year-round coastal residential condominiums and hotels, and also an important agricultural and mining (lapizlazuli and gold) spot. The Cerro Tololo Astronomical Observatory, up on the mountains offers spectacular blue sky favouring varied observations, actually these skies are considered the cleanest and most appropriate for astronomical observation in the entire world.Once you find yourself visiting this area, you may well head north inland from the coastline via the new "Fruit Road" to the elegant Hacienda Los Lingues and the Central Valley, a prime agricultural center of expanding export activity in both fruit and wine. The cities of Rancagua, San Fernando and Curicó are among those of this "huaso" or farmer area. If you decide to carry on going south, you'll find the big city of Concepción, where the Bio-Bio River ends its long and historic route, and the port of Talcahuano. This is an industrial and timber area of interest.