Choapa Province is one of the

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 ...

making up the

Coquimbo Region The Coquimbo Region ( es, Región de Coquimbo, ) is one of Chile's 16 regions (first order administrative divisions). It is bordered by Atacama to the north, Valparaíso to the south, Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

of Chile. It has an area of 10,079.8 km² and a population of 81,681. The capital of the province is the town of

Illapel Illapel () is a Chilean city, which is the capital of the Choapa Province, Coquimbo Region. It lies along the Illapel River and marks the country's narrowest point along a parallel (94 km). It is located to the east of Los Vilos. Administrat ...

Administration

The current presidential provincial delegate is Nataly Carvajal.

Communes

The province is divided into four

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

(''comunas'') administered by four municipalities: *

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

Los Vilos Los Vilos (From mapuche: ''Filu'', ‘snake’) ? is both a Chilean coastal commune and a coastal city with over 9,000 inhabitants (18,275 in comuna), located in the Province of Choapa, part of the IV Region of Coquimbo. The city has a harbour c ...

Canela Canela may refer to: Places * Canela, Rio Grande do Sul, a town in Brazil * Canela, Chile, a commune in Chile * La Canela, a legendary location in South America * Isla Canela, an island in Andalusia, Spain Other uses * Canela (surname), in ...

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the

National Statistics Institute National Institute of Statistics may refer to: *National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia *National Institute of Statistics of Cambodia *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Nica ...

(''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 81,681 inhabitants (41,578 men and 40,103 women), giving it a population density of . Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 4.6% (3,603 persons).

Choapa Valley wine region

The Choapa Valley is located 400 km (250 mi) north 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, whose ...

, in the southern part of the

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 ...

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...

, and is named after the province of “Choapa”. This area is within the narrowest part of Chile, where the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

meet the Coastal range. The small valley consists of two sectors,

and

. There are no wineries in any of these sectors, but vines planted on the rocky, foothill soils produce small quantities of high quality

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

and

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

grapes with high acidity and low pH, which is increasing the interest for the area among many wine producers. Only one brand of wine, De Martino Syrah, currently holds the

D.O. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

of “Choapa Valley”.

Grape distribution by varietal

* Climate: Desert-like climate. 100 mm (4.5 in) of rain per year. High luminosity. * Soils: clay, silt, and chalk. * Primary grape varietals:

and

. * Total Hectares planted: 96 ha (237 acres) See Choapa Valley Chart
www.winesofchile.org retrieved October 11, 2013

References