Santiago (Spanish: Santiago de Chile) is Chile's capital and largest city. It is situated in the country's central valley, and administratively is a part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Even though Santiago is the capital, legislative bodies meet in nearby Valparaiso.
Santiago has a mild Mediterranean climate: relatively hot dry summers (November to March) with temperatures reaching up to 35 degrees Celsius on the hottest days; winters (June to August) are more humid, with typical maximum daily temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius, and minimums of a few degrees above freezing. Mean rainfall is 346 mm per year.
Santiago is the most important industrial and financial center of Chile. It generates 45 percent of the country's GDP. Also, the city is, along with Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, one of the biggest financial centers of South America. Some international institutions, such as ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), have their offices in Santiago. In recent years, due to the strong growth and stability of the Chilean economy, many multinational companies have chosen Santiago as the place for their headquarters in the region, like HP, Reuters, JP Morgan, Intel, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, Kodak, BHP Billiton, IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, Ford, Yahoo!, and many more.
Santiago's national and international airport is Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport and ranks high regionally in terms of quality. Trains operated by Chile's national railway, Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado, connect Santiago to Puerto Montt, in the central-southern part of the country. All such trains arrive and depart from the Estacion Central ("Central Station"). Private inter-urban bus companies provide excellent and cheap transportation from Santiago to virtually any part of the country. There are also several new inter-urban toll highways connecting the city's extremes.
There are two symphonic orchestras: Orquesta Filarmonica de Santiago, which performs in the Teatro Municipal, and Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, dependent of the Universidad de Chile, performs in its theater. There are also various jazz establishments, the most notable being the Club de Jazz in Nunoa.
Museums in Santiago include Centro Cultural Palacio de La Moneda, newest and biggest cultural space, beneath the Citizenry Square, in the south front of the government palace La Moneda, Museo Arqueologico de Santiago, and Museo de Santiago Casa Colorada.