Languages of Chile that derive from English migrants in the 19th century. According to the World Federation of the Deaf 2008 survey report for South America, Chile's official number of deaf citizens is 66,500. The number who master Chilean Sign Language is uncertain, but if it follows the general norm of one in four deaf persons having learnt sign language, the number of sign language users in Chile should be around 16,000. Languages of Chile The Republic of Chile is an overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking country, with the exceptions of isolated native and immigrant communities. According to Ethnologue, Chile has nine living languages and seven
History of Chile reforms. In 1990, Chile finally made a peaceful transition to democracy. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in the fertile valleys and coastal areas of what is present day Chile. Pre-Hispanic Chile was home to over a dozen different Amerindian societies. The current prevalent theories are that the initial arrival of humans to the continent took place either along the Pacific coast southwards in a rather rapid expansion long preceding the Clovis culture, or even trans-Pacific migration. These theories are backed by findings in the Monte Verde archaeological site, which predates the Clovis site by thousands of years.