On this week’s edition of Fun Fact Tuesday by Statesman Ties, we’re discussing Chile. This is the country that inspired our Chile tie.

Fun Fact 1: Chile is home to the world’s largest swimming pool – a gargantuan 3,324-foot long man-made saltwater lagoon at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, Chile. Construction was completed in 2006 after five years of planning and building and cost an estimated $2 billion to complete.

The pool’s maintenance costs around $4 million a year, which covers filtering and circulating the 66 million of gallons of seawater that fills the pool. The sun warms the pool to 80 F degrees during the summer, which is warmer than the surrounding ocean.

Fun Fact 2: Chile not only boasts the largest swimming pool, but also the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert. It sits at 7,500 feet above sea level and some parts of the desert have likely never seen a single drop of rain. As well as being the driest place on Earth, it’s also likely the oldest desert.