Chañaral Province
Encyclopedia
Chañaral Province is one of three 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....

 in the northern 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...

an region of Atacama
Atacama Region
The Atacama Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It comprises three provinces, Chañaral, Copiapó and Huasco. It is bordered to the north by Antofagasta, to the south by Coquimbo, to east with Provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Juan of Argentina, and to west with...

 (III). Its capital is the small coastal town of Chañaral
Chañaral
Chañaral is a small coastal city and commune in the Atacama Region, Chile and capital of the Chañaral Province. A colourful town largely unknown by tourists, who generally head straight for towns such as San Pedro de Atacama. The town is considered unspoiled, with the benefit of having absolutely...

.

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute
National Statistics Institute (Chile)
The National Statistics Institute of Chile is a state-run organization of the Government of Chile, created in the second half of the 19th century and tasked with performing a general census of population and housing, then collecting, producing and publishing official demographic statistics of...

 (INE), the province spans an area of 24436.2 sqkm and had a population of 32,132 inhabitants (16,999 men and 15,133 women), giving it a population density of 1.3 PD/sqkm. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population fell by 22.5% (9,319 persons).

Administration

As a province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

, Chañaral is a second-level administrative division of Chile, which is further divided into two communes (comunas): Chañaral
Chañaral
Chañaral is a small coastal city and commune in the Atacama Region, Chile and capital of the Chañaral Province. A colourful town largely unknown by tourists, who generally head straight for towns such as San Pedro de Atacama. The town is considered unspoiled, with the benefit of having absolutely...

 and Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro, Chile
Diego de Almagro is a Chilean city and commune in Chañaral Province, Atacama Region. The commune has an area of . The area is named after Diego de Almagro.-Demographics:...

. The province is administered by a presidentially appointed governor. Tomás Villavicencio Pizarro was appointed by 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...

 Sebastián Piñera
Sebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique is a Chilean businessman and politician. He was elected President of Chile in January 2010, taking office in March 2010.- Education :...

.
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