Valparaíso Province () is one of eight

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

s of the central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

(V). Its capital is the coastal city of

(pop. 275,982).

Administration

As a province, Valparaíso is a second-level

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

, it was governed by a provincial

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

who was 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. Since 2021, however, it is directly governmed by a regional presidential delegate, also appointed by the President, because one of its communes is the regional capital.

Communes

The province comprises seven communes (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''comunas''), each governed by a municipality consisting of an

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

and

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

: *

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

Concón Concón is a Chilean city and commune in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. It is a major tourist center known for its beaches, ''balnearios'' (beachside resorts) and night life. Geography The commune of Concón spans an area of . It ...

* Quintero * Puchuncaví *

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

* Juan Fernández

History

A province with the same name was first created on October 27, 1842, being originally composed of the Valparaíso, Casablanca and Quillota Departments. This law segregated the department of Quillota from the province of Aconcagua, as well as the departments of Valparaíso and Casablanca from that of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. Its capital was the city of the same name. In 1857 the deparmtnets of Ferrocarril and Juan Fernández were created, with both being ultimately disestablished in 1925, the same year the department of Limache was created. In 1966 the Isla de Pascua Department was established, which incorporated the province, before finally being succeeded by the

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

in 1976. On March 11, 2010, the communes of Quilpué and Villa Alemana were transferred to

Marga Marga Province Marga Marga Province () is one of the eight Provinces of Chile, provinces in the central Chilean Regions of Chile, region of Valparaíso Region, Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the city of Quilpué. History The province was created by Law 20,368 o ...

under Law 20,368 (signed August 25, 2009).

Geography and demography

The province spans a coastal area of , the fourth largest in the Valparaíso Region. According to the 2002 census, Valparaíso was the most populous province in the region with a population of 651,821. At that time, there were 639,255 people living in

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s, 12,566 people living in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

s, 315,785 men and 336,036 women.

References

External links

Official link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valparaiso Province Provinces of Chile Provinces of Valparaíso Region