Cauquenes Province ( es, Provincia de Cauquenes) is one of four

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of the central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of Maule (VII). The provincial capital is the city of Cauquenes.

Geography and demography

The provincial capital, Cauquenes, lies approximately southwest of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

. According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 57,088 inhabitants (28,356 men and 28,732 women), giving it a population density of . Of these, 38,660 (67.7%) lived in urban areas and 18,428 (32.3%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 3.3% (1,846 persons).

Administration

As a province, Cachapoal is a second-level

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of Chile, governed by a provincial

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

who is appointed by the president.

Communes

The province is composed of three communes, each governed by a municipality consisting of an alcalde and

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

: Cauquenes,

Chanco Chanco is a name traditionally assigned to a Native American who is said to have warned a Jamestown colonist, Richard Pace, about an impending Powhatan attack in 1622. This article discusses how the Native American came to be known as Chanco. ...

and Pelluhue.

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Maule Region Provinces of Chile