Chacabuco Province is one of six provinces

Provinces of Chile

A province is the second largest administrative division in Chile, after a region. Each region is divided into provinces. There are 54 provinces in total....

 of the Santiago Metropolitan Region

Santiago Metropolitan Region

Santiago Metropolitan Region or simply Metropolitan Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago...

 in central Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. It is located north of the Province of Santiago

Santiago Province (Chile)

Santiago Province is one of the six provinces of the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. It encompasses the majority of the population of that region, including 31 of the 36 communities of Greater Santiago. The province spans ....

, which is entirely urbanized and part of the Santiago connurbation. The provincial capital, Colina, lies approximately 27 km (17 mi) north of Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

.

Administration

As a province, Chacabuco is a second-level administrative division

Administrative divisions of Chile

The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law....

 of Chile, governed by a provincial governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 who is appointed by the president

President of Chile

The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...

. On March 17, 2010, Angélica del Carmen Antimán Palma took office as provincial governor.

Communes

The province is composed of three communes (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

: comunas), each governed by a municipality consisting of an alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 and municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

:

• Colina
  Colina, Chile
  Colina is a Chilean city and commune, capital of the Chacabuco Province, in the northern part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Demographics:...
  
  , the capital city: pop. 77,815
• Lampa: pop. 40,228
• Til-Til: pop. 14,755

Geography and demography

The province spans an area of 2076.1 sqkm, the third largest in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. According to the 2002 census, Chacabuco was the least populous province in the region with a total population of 132,798. At that time, there were 99,201 people living in urban area

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

s, 33,597 living in rural areas, 69,184 men, and 63,614 women.