Chili is a word from the language of the Aymara Indians. It means: land where the world ends. The Spanish conquerors adopted this name for the area south of the Atacama Desert and called it Chile. Chile stretches along the western coast of South America between the 17th and 56th degrees of south latitude over approximately 4,300 kilometers in a north-south direction from Arica to Puerto Williams, which is roughly the distance from Lisbon to Istanbul. However, the country is only a narrow strip between the Andes and the Pacific, ranging from 90 to 240 kilometers in width. Due to its north-south extent over 39 degrees of latitude and its significant elevation differences, Chile features several climate and vegetation zones, from the driest desert on Earth to the ice of Antarctica. There are snow-capped peaks, glacial lakes, and fjords, as well as volcanoes, deserts, and salt flats, alongside the lush plantations and vineyards in the south.