Valparaiso, val pa ri'zo, a seaport of Chile and the chief commercial center on the Pacific coast of South America, situated on a bay on the Pacific Ocean, 75 mi. n. w. of Santiago, with which it is connected by rail. Back of the city rise hills and mountains, on the lower slopes of which a considerable portion of the town is built. The city is well laid out, and the streets are regular and attractive. The lower town contains the principal business houses and the city park. The other buildings are mostly constructed of stone and are of a substantial character. The educational institutions include a naval school, a number of colleges and a school for marines. The city maintains a hydrographic bureau and a museum of natural history. The industrial establishments include foundries, machine shops, bottling works, distilleries, sugar refineries and railroad shops. The harbor is spacious, and the city has an extensive foreign trade, being connected by regular lines of steamers with the Pacific ports of America and the leading ports of Europe. On August 16 and 17, 1906, the city suffered severely from an earthquake and fire, which destroyed a large part of the city, killed more than a thousand persons and rendered at least 75,000 homeless. At the same time Santiago, the capital, was badly damaged, and Quillota, a neighboring town of 60,000 people, was almost totally demolished. Population in 1902, 142,282.