VINA DEL MAR

Pacific Ocean resort, Valparaso region, central Chile, just northeast of Valparaso city. A large municipal gaming casino, beaches, and a pleasant summer climate attract substantial numbers of domestic and foreign vacationers. Hotels, exclusive clubs, a racecourse, public gardens and plazas, museums, and theatres are added attractions. Army and navy garrisons, petroleum depots, and processing and fabricating industries (including foods, textiles, and paints) add to the city's economic base. The Cerro Castillo, summer palace of Chilean presidents, is on a coastal bluff. Bus and rail communications link it with Santiago, the national capital, 120 mi (190 km) southeast. In the mid-20th century Via del Mar grew rapidly as a residential suburb of Valparaso. Pop. (1990 est.) mun., 305,303.