First-level administrative regions of Chile
Chile
is divided into 16
regions
(in
Spanish
,
regiones
; singular
region
), which are the country's first-level administrative division. Each region is headed by an
intendant
(
intendente)
, appointed by the
President of Chile
, and a directly elected regional board (
consejo regional
).
The regions are divided into
provinces
(the second-level administrative division), each headed by a governor (
gobernador
) appointed by the President. There are 56 provinces in total. Provinces are divided into
communes
(the third and lowest level administrative division), which are governed by
municipal councils
.
Naming
[
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]
Each region was given a
Roman numeral
, followed by a name (e.g.
IV Region de Coquimbo
, read as "fourth region of Coquimbo" in Spanish). When the regional structure was created, Roman numerals were assigned in ascending order from north to south, with the northernmost region designated as I (first) and the southernmost region as XII (twelfth). The
Santiago Metropolitan Region
, located in the center of the country and home to the country's capital
Santiago
, was excluded from this naming scheme and given instead the initials RM, standing for
Region Metropolitana
("Metropolitan Region" in Spanish). With the creation of regions XIV (
Los Rios Region
) and XVI (
Nuble Region
) in the south and XV (
Arica y Parinacota Region
) in the north (
XIII was not used
) in 2007, the north-south Roman numeral order was broken.
In February 2018, the
Strengthening of Regionalization Law
(Law 21074) was enacted.
[1]
Among other things, it removed the
roman numerals
from the designations.
History of the regional structure
[
edit
]
The administrative divisions of Chile were created in 1974 and limited to 13 regions (this limitation was eliminated in 2005 via a constitutional reform). Previously, Chile was divided into 25 provinces, which were further divided into departments, and then into communes. The new territorial organization was implemented in phases with some initial "pilot regions" beginning to operate in 1974, extending the process on January 1, 1976, to the rest of the country. The Santiago Metropolitan Region began to operate in April 1980.
In December 2006, two new regions were created: the northern
Arica and Parinacota Region
, by taking out the two northernmost provinces from the
Tarapaca Region
; and
Los Rios Region
in the south, encompassing the provinces of
Valdivia
, formerly part of the
Los Lagos Region
, and
Ranco
, formerly part of Valdivia.
[2]
Both regions became operative in October 2007.
In August 2017, the
Nuble Region
was created from what was then the
Nuble Province
of the
Biobio Region
. The old province was divided into three new provinces:
Diguillin
,
Punilla
and
Itata
. The new region's capital is
Chillan
. It became operational in September 2018.
[3]
Administration
[
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]
Since their creation, each region is headed by an
intendant
(intendente) appointed by the President of Chile, and a regional board (consejo regional). The intendants count with the direct collaboration of the SEREMI (Ministerial Regional secretary) in specific matters, such as public health, education, agriculture, among others. The SEREMI are appointed by the President. Thanks to the Strengthening of Regionalization Law, since the
2020 municipal elections
each intendant will be elected at the same date along with the mayors and municipal councillors, using a
two-round system
. If no candidate obtains the minimum threshold 40% of the valid votes, a runoff election is held between the two candidates with the most votes, and the winner is elected by a
simple majority
.
[4]
[5]
Also the law will change the name
Intendant
to
Regional Governor
(Gobernador regional). The President will appoint a Regional presidential delegate (delegado presidencial regional), who will represent the national government in the region.
The board was elected among the members of the municipal councils (consejo municipal) of each commune of the respective region. Since the
2013 election
the regional board members (Consejero regional) are directly elected using an
open list
proportional representation
, with seats allocated using the
D'Hondt method
. Each of the 54 provinces are headed by a governor (gobernador) appointed by the President. In 2020, the provincial governors will change their name to
Provincial presidential delegate'
(delegado presidencial provincial), still appointed by the President.
List of regions
[
edit
]
Flag
|
Name
(
English
/
Spanish
)
|
Capital
|
Area (km
2
)
|
Population
(2017 census)
|
Density per
km
2
|
Former number
|
|
Arica and Parinacota
Region de Arica y Parinacota
|
Arica
|
16,873.3
|
226,068
|
13.4
|
XV
|
|
Tarapaca
Region de Tarapaca
|
Iquique
|
42,225.8
|
330,558
|
7.83
|
I
|
|
Antofagasta
Region de Antofagasta
|
Antofagasta
|
126,049.1
|
607,534
|
4.82
|
II
|
|
Atacama
Region de Atacama
|
Copiapo
|
75,176.2
|
286,168
|
3.81
|
III
|
|
Coquimbo
Region de Coquimbo
|
La Serena
|
40,579.9
|
757,586
|
18.67
|
IV
|
|
Valparaiso
Region de Valparaiso
|
Valparaiso
|
16,396.1
|
1,815,902
|
110.75
|
V
|
|
Metropolitan
Region Metropolitana de Santiago
|
Santiago
|
15,403.2
|
7,112,808
|
461.77
|
RM (XIII)
|
|
O'Higgins
Region del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins
|
Rancagua
|
16,387.0
|
914,555
|
55.81
|
VI
|
|
Maule
Region del Maule
|
Talca
|
30,296.1
|
1,044,950
|
34.49
|
VII
|
|
Nuble
Region de Nuble
|
Chillan
|
13,178.5
|
480,609
|
36.47
|
XVI
|
|
Biobio
Region del Biobio
|
Concepcion
|
23,890.2
|
1,556,805
|
65.17
|
VIII
|
|
Araucania
Region de La Araucania
|
Temuco
|
31,842.3
|
957,224
|
30.06
|
IX
|
|
Los Rios
Region de Los Rios
|
Valdivia
|
18,429.5
|
384,837
|
20.88
|
XIV
|
|
Los Lagos
Region de Los Lagos
|
Puerto Montt
|
48,583.6
|
828,708
|
17.06
|
X
|
|
Aysen
Region Aysen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo
|
Coyhaique
|
108,494.4
|
103,158
|
0.95
|
XI
|
|
Magallanes
Region de Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena
|
Punta Arenas
|
132,291.1
|
166,533
|
1.26
|
XII
|
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
|
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| |
|
---|
National, Federal
| |
---|
Regional, Metropolitan
| |
---|
Urban, Rural
| |
---|
- Historical subdivisions in
italics
.
|
External links
[
edit
]