Chile is the world's longest geographical punchline — a country so thin it averages about 177 kilometers across. Players nail the 'thin' and completely blow the 'long', drawing a ribbon that reaches only halfway down the continent.
The shape at a glance
Chile is an extreme vertical sliver, roughly 18 times taller than it is wide, hugging the Pacific edge of South America. The northern half is a fairly even band through the Atacama desert, while the southern third shatters into fjords, islands and channels as it dissolves toward Tierra del Fuego. It never gets wide — at its broadest it is still a fraction of its absurd length.
Step by step
- Start with a long straight western edge — the Pacific coastline running down the entire continent.
- Draw the eastern edge as a second line very close to the first, following the Andes border with Bolivia and Argentina.
- Keep the width barely anything — fight the urge to give the country breathing room.
- Extend the strip much farther south than feels reasonable, past the halfway point of the continent.
- Fray the southern third into islands and channels — the smooth ribbon breaks apart into a shaggy fringe.
- End at Tierra del Fuego, where Chile wraps around the bottom and takes the western half of the island.
Mistakes that cost you points
- Drawing Chile too thick — it is one of the narrowest countries on Earth and should look almost like a line.
- Stopping it too early; Chile runs nearly the full length of the continent's southern half.
- Keeping the southern end smooth when it actually shatters into a chaotic fjord fringe.
- Giving Tierra del Fuego entirely to Argentina when Chile holds its western half.
Place it on the map
Chile is sandwiched between the Andes and the Pacific, with Peru and Bolivia at its top and Argentina along its entire eastern back. If you've drawn Argentina's western edge, Chile is the sliver pressed against it.
Pro tip: Since Chile is mostly edge, edge accuracy is everything — draw it thin enough that your line IS the country. A clean sliver scores far better than a 'safe' wider strip, because the empty Pacific on one side and Argentina on the other both count against fat.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you draw Chile from memory?
- Start with the overall box — is Chile wider than tall or the reverse — then place its signature feature first and build the rest of the outline around it. Finish with the coastline details, then compare against the real border in a free practice round to get a 0-100 score.
- How hard is it to draw Chile?
- Chile rates as medium difficulty. The famous ribbon is unmistakable, but drawing something that thin and that long without snapping the proportions is genuinely tricky.