Magallanes Province is one of four 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 southern 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 Magallanes and Antártica Chilena (XII). The provincial capital is the city of Punta Arenas.

Geography and demography

Its eastern portion is located along the northern shore of the Strait of Magellan

Strait of Magellan

The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...

 while the western portion straddles the strait on either side the strait's northwesterly stretch toward the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Última Esperanza Province

Última Esperanza Province

Última Esperanza Province is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena . The capital is Puerto Natales...

 to the north and Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego Province, Chile

Tierra del Fuego Province is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena . It includes the Chilean part of the main island of Tierra del Fuego. There is also an Argentine province of the same name, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina...

 to the south.

This is the main terrestrial and aerial entry point to the southernmost region in Chile. Either coming from Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, via Río Gallegos

Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz

Río Gallegos is the capital of the Patagonia province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. It has a population of about 79,000 as per the , while at 2009, the estimated population may be well over 100,000...

 by car, or by plane, arriving at the Carlos Ibáñez Del Campo International Airport

Carlos Ibanez Del Campo International Airport

Presidente Carlos Ibáñez International Airport is an airport serving the city of Punta Arenas in southern Chile in the Patagonia region of South America. Because of high amounts of tourism, it handles a large number of passengers per year...

. On this province there are several touristic places, such as Port Famine, Fuerte Bulnes

Fuerte Bulnes

Fuerte Bulnes is a Chilean fort located by the Strait of Magellan, 62 km south of Punta Arenas. It was founded in 1843 over a rocky hill at Punta Santa Ana, under the command of President Manuel Bulnes Prieto....

, two penguin colonies and the first marine park in the country.

According to 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...

's 2002 census, it has an area of 36400.8 sqkm. It is the ninth largest province in the country. It then had a population of 121,675 inhabitants (62,360 men and 59,315 women), giving it a population density of 3.3 PD/sqkm. Of these, 116,005 (95.3%) lived in urban areas and 5,670 (4.7%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 4.4% (5,164 persons).

Administration

As a province, Magallanes is a second-level administrative division of Chile, headed by a 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...

. It consists of four communes (Spanish: comunas): Punta Arenas, Río Verde

Río Verde, Chile

Río Verde is a Chilean commune and settlement in Magallanes Province and Region. The commune is located in the area surrounding Seno Skyring, a sea inlet north of Riesco Island.-Demographics:...

, Laguna Blanca

Laguna Blanca, Chile

Laguna Blanca is Chilean commune located in Magallanes Province and Region. The commune is administered by the municipality in Villa Tehuelches, that is the major settlement in the whole commune.-Demographics:...

 and San Gregorio

San Gregorio, Chile

San Gregorio is Chilean town and commune located in northeast coast of the Strait of Magellan and is part of Magallanes Province and Region. The commune is administered by the municipality in Punta Delgada, the principal settlement. At the site of Primera Angostura, located within the commune, a...

.