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

of the

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 ...

Arica y Parinacota The Arica y Parinacota Region ( es, link=no, Región de Arica y Parinacota ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivi ...

. Its capital is

Putre Putre is a Chilean town and commune, capital of the Parinacota Province in the Arica-Parinacota Region. It is located east of Arica, at an altitude of . The town is backdropped by Taapaca volcanic complex. Putre is on the edge of the Lauca Nat ...

. It is named after the Parinacota Volcano.

History

Arica y Parinacota Region was created on October 8, 2007 under Law 20.175, promulgated on March 23, 2007 by

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 ...

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

in the city of

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capita ...

. The law divided the former

Tarapacá Region The Tarapacá Region ( es, Región de Tarapacá, ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Iquique and Tamarugal. It borders the Chilean Arica and Parinacota Region to the north, Bolivia's Orur ...

into two: the northern portion became the XV Arica y Parinacota Region, and the southern portion remained the I Tarapacá Region.

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 3,156 inhabitants (2,106 men and 1,050 women), giving it a population density of . It is the second least populated province in the country after Antártica Chilena and fifth most sparsely populated province. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population fell by 17.3% (659 persons).

Administration

As a province, Parinacota 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. ...

consisting of 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 ...

: General Lagos in the northern portion and

in the south. The town of Putre serves as the provincial

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

. The provincial government is led by delegate Wagner Sanhueza Guzmán, who was appointed by

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 ...

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean left-wing politician who is the 37th and current president of Chile, serving since 11 March 2022. Boric studied in the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile, and was the president o ...

References

{{Communes in Arica y Parinacota Region Provinces of Arica y Parinacota Region Provinces of Chile