El Loa Province ( es, Provincia El Loa) is one of three

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 northern Chilean region of

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American ...

(II). It is named after the longest of

rivers in Chile This list of rivers of Chile includes all the major rivers of Chile. See each article for their tributaries, drainage areas, etc. Usually significant tributaries appear in this list, under the river into which they drain. Rivers by name Following ...

, the Loa River. The provincial capital is Calama.

Geography and demography

According to the 2012 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 142,686 inhabitants, giving it a population density of . It is the sixth largest province in the country. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 14.9% (18,610 persons).

Communes

* Calama (capital) *

Ollagüe Ollagüe () or Ullawi () is a massive andesite stratovolcano in the Andes on the border between Bolivia and Chile, within the Antofagasta Region of Chile and the Potosi Department of Bolivia. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, i ...

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volca ...

References

External links

Delegation of El Loa
Church in Machuca, Atacama Chile

{{Authority control Provinces of Antofagasta Region Provinces of Chile