Our town in wrong country, Chile tells Google

Chile has asked Google to correct its popular online mapping service that shows a southern Chilean town named after a national hero as part of neighbouring Argentina.

Villa O'Higgins, a town of about 400 residents near the glacier-encrusted tip of South America, was named after Bernardo O'Higgins, a revered commander of military forces that won Chile's independence from Spain.

Chile's Foreign Ministry said it had contacted Google, and the search engine company said today it was working on the request.

"We have received the request and are working with our partners to get more precise data for the region," Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn said. "We're constantly working to improve the quality and accuracy of our maps. This is an ongoing process as we receive new information from third party data providers."

Tonight, Google Earth still showed Villa O'Higgins in Argentina.