Ranco Province is one of two 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 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 Los Ríos

Los Ríos Region

The XIV Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. Pop. 356,396 . It began to operate as region on October 2, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile...

 (XIV). It is named after Ranco Lake

Ranco Lake

Ranco Lake is located in Ranco Province of Chile. It is the largest lake of Los Ríos Region and the fourth largest in Chile. Administratively Ranco Lake is split into three communes; La Unión, Futrono and Lago Ranco. The lake host a series of islands of which Guapi Island is the largest. The...

 shared by the communes (comunas) of Futrono

Futrono

Futrono is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Futrono...

 and Lago Ranco

Lago Ranco, Chile

Lago Ranco is a town and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Lago Ranco. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region...

. The lake is drained by the Bueno River

Bueno River

Bueno River is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms the border between Osorno Province and Ranco Province...

, on which basin lies most of the province. La Unión

La Unión, Chile

La Unión is a city and commune of the Ranco Province in the Los Rios Region in Chile. It is situated approximately 40 km north of Osorno and 80 km south east of Valdivia. It covers an area of approximately 2136.7 km² and has a population of 39.447 of which 25,615 are considered part...

 is the provincial capital.

Administration

As 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....

, the province comprises four communes, each with its own governing municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

. Eduardo Hölck Kusch is the provincial governor.

Communes

• Futrono
  Futrono
  Futrono is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Futrono...
  
  
• Lago Ranco
  Lago Ranco, Chile
  Lago Ranco is a town and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Lago Ranco. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region...
  
  
• La Unión
  La Unión, Chile
  La Unión is a city and commune of the Ranco Province in the Los Rios Region in Chile. It is situated approximately 40 km north of Osorno and 80 km south east of Valdivia. It covers an area of approximately 2136.7 km² and has a population of 39.447 of which 25,615 are considered part...
  
  
• Río Bueno
  Río Bueno, Chile
  Río Bueno is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Río Bueno. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region...
  
  

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 8232.3 sqkm and had a population of 97,153 inhabitants (49,485 men and 47,668 women), giving it a population density of 11.8 PD/sqkm. Of these, 51,273 (52.8%) lived in urban areas and 45,880 (47.2%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 1% (924 persons).