Chile - Libraries and museums

Chile's principal libraries and museums are in Santiago. The three most notable libraries are the National Library (3.7 million volumes in 2002), the central library of the University of Chile (41 libraries with an aggregate of over 1,000,000 volumes), and the Library of Congress (750,000). Other significant collections include the Severín Library in Valparaíso (101,000) and the library of the University at Concepción (420,000). The Catholic University of Chile in Santiago has more than a dozen branches holding 500,000 volumes.

Chile's most outstanding museums are the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of History, all in Santiago, and the Natural History Museum in Valparaíso. The Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in Santiago has one of the hemisphere's finest collections of indigenous artifacts, including textiles, ceramics, metals, and stonework from the Mapuche, Aymara, Tiahuanaco, Atacoma, and Arauconion cultures. There are dozens of historical, public affairs, and ethnographic museums throughout the country.