Iquique Province ( es, Provincia de Iquique) is one of two

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 ...

in the northern

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 east a ...

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 ...

Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego ...

. Its capital is the port city of

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...

History

Until October 2007, the Province of Iquique was composed of 7 communes: Alto Hospicio, Camina, Colchane, Huara, Iquique, Pica and Pozo Almonte, but since then, with the creation of the Region of Arica and Parinacota, much of the province, specifically the municipalities of Huara, Camina, Colchane, Pozo Almonte and Pica, was transferred administratively to Tamarugal Province, leaving Iquique Province consists of two communes.

Geography and demography

According to the 2012 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 275,042 inhabitants, giving it a population density of . Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 30.8% (50,959 persons).

Administration

As a

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

, Iquique is a second-level

administrative division 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. ...

, which is further divided into two

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, relig ...

(''comunas''): the capital Iquique and its suburb Alto Hospicio. The province is administered by the presidentially appointed regional delegate.

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Tarapacá Region Provinces of Chile