GUILLERMO BLANC

Since the first international observatories were installed in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile in the 1960's, the country has grown to be a competitive international player in the field of Astronomy. Today Chile hosts about 50% of all the telescope collecting area in the world, including several 8m class optical/IR telescopes (VLT, Gemini, Magellan) and the largest sub-mm interferometer in the world (ALMA). Ongoing projects to build 30m class telescopes (E-ELT, GMT, and maybe TMT) as well as 8m class survey machines like LSST will only continue to further the development of Astronomy in Chile. These observational resources, together with a supportive institutional environment that provides an ideal setting for international observatories while ensuring significant access to these facilities for researchers at Chilean institutions, have allowed the growth of a large and active astronomical community with hundreds of members. The speaker will present the current and future state of Chilean astronomy, and will discuss potential opportunities for collaboration between India and Chile in terms of astronomical research and instrumentation.