Magallanes Province ( es, Provincia de Magallanes) 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 ou ...

in the southern

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 an ...

of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena. The provincial capital is the city of

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

Geography and demography

Its eastern portion is located along the northern shore of the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural ...

while the western portion straddles the strait on either side of the strait's northwesterly stretch toward the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Última Esperanza Province to the north and

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

to the south. This is the main terrestrial and aerial entry point to the southernmost region in Chile. Either coming from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, via

Río Gallegos Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for " river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, ...

by car, or by plane, arriving at the Carlos Ibáñez Del Campo International Airport. On this province there are several touristic places, such as Port Famine, Fuerte Bulnes, two penguin colonies and the first marine park in the country. According to National Statistics Institute's 2002 census, it has an area of . It is the ninth largest province in the country. It then had a population of 121,675 inhabitants (62,360 men and 59,315 women), giving it a population density of . Of these, 116,005 (95.3%) lived in urban areas and 5,670 (4.7%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 4.4% (5,164 persons).

Administration

As a province, Magallanes 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. ...

, headed by a

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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. It consists of 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, relig ...

(Spanish: ''comunas''): Punta Arenas, Río Verde, Laguna Blanca and San Gregorio.

References

External links

Carlos III Island Marine Park
{{Communes in Magallanes Region Provinces of Chile Provinces of Magallanes Region