Bío Bío Region

The **Bío Bío Region** () is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Concepción, the second city of Chile after the national capital, Santiago.

The region is named after its main river: the Bío Bío river.

## History

The Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founded the city of Concepción in 1550 at the mouth of the Bío Bío river. He died in 1553 during the Arauco War against the Mapuche people.

The Region has been hit by many earthquakes, including the most powerful earthquake ever recorded (the Great Chilean Earthquake in 1960) and the earthquake of 2010, when many communities in the region were greatly affected by the earthquake and the following tsunami.

## Geography

The Bío Bío region has area of .

It borders the Ñuble region to the north, Argentina to the east, the Araucanía region to the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

The main river in the region is the Bío Bío River. It is  long. It is the second longest river of Chile after the Loa River.

## Population

The Bío Bío Region has 1,557,414 inhabitants (2017 census). It is the third region by population, after the Valparaíso Region. Its population density was .

## Administration

The Bío Bío region is further subdivided into three provinces: Arauco, Bío Bío and Concepción.

|Province|Capital|Code|Comuna|Area <small>(km²)</small>|Population <small>(2002)</small>|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="12" valign="top"|Concepción (081)|rowspan="12" valign="top"|Concepción|08101|**23** Concepción|align="right"|221.6|align="right"|216,061|
|08102|**24** Coronel|align="right"|279.4|align="right"|95,528|||||
|08103|**22** Chiguayante|align="right"|71.5|align="right"|81,302|||||
|08104|**25** Florida|align="right"|608.6|align="right"|10,177|||||
|08105|**27** Hualqui|align="right"|530.5|align="right"|18,768|||||
|08106|**28** Lota|align="right"|135.8|align="right"|49,089|||||
|08107|**29** Penco|align="right"|107.6|align="right"|46,016|||||
|08108|**30** San Pedro de la Paz|align="right"|112.5|align="right"|80,447|||||
|08109|**31** Santa Juana|align="right"|731.2|align="right"|12,713|||||
|08110|**32** Talcahuano|align="right"|92.3|align="right"|163,626|||||
|08111|**33** Tomé|align="right"|494.5|align="right"|52,440|||||
|08112|**26** Hualpén|align="right"|53.5|align="right"|86,722|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Concepción province**|align="right"|3,439.0|align="right"|912,889|||||
|rowspan="8" valign="top"|Arauco (082)|rowspan="8" valign="top"|Lebu|||||||
|08201|**5** Lebu|align="right"|561.4|align="right"|25,035|||||
|08202|**1** Arauco|align="right"|956.1|align="right"|34,873|||||
|08203|**2** Cañete|align="right"|1,089.2|align="right"|31,270|||||
|08204|**3** Contulmo|align="right"|638.8|align="right"|5,838|||||
|08205|**4** Curanilahue|align="right"|994.3|align="right"|31,943|||||
|08206|**6** Los Álamos|align="right"|599.1|align="right"|18,632|||||
|08207|**7** Tirúa|align="right"|624.4|align="right"|9,664|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Arauco province**|align="right"|5,463.3|align="right"|157,255|||||
|rowspan="15" valign="top"|Bío Bío (083)|rowspan="15" valign="top"|Los Ángeles|||||||
|08301|**12** Los Ángeles|align="right"|1,748.2|align="right"|166,556|||||
|08302|**9** Antuco|align="right"|1,884.1|align="right"|3,908|||||
|08303|**10** Cabrero|align="right"|640.8|align="right"|25,282|||||
|08304|**11** Laja|align="right"|339.8|align="right"|22,404|||||
|08305|**13** Mulchén|align="right"|1,925.3|align="right"|29,003|||||
|08306|**14** Nacimiento|align="right"|934.9|align="right"|25,971|||||
|08307|**15** Negrete|align="right"|156.5|align="right"|8,579|||||
|08308|**16** Quilaco|align="right"|1,123.7|align="right"|4,021|||||
|08309|**17** Quilleco|align="right"|1,121.8|align="right"|10,428|||||
|08310|**18** San Rosendo|align="right"|92.4|align="right"|3,918|||||
|08311|**19** Santa Bárbara|align="right"|1,254.9|align="right"|12,943|||||
|08312|**20** Tucapel|align="right"|914.9|align="right"|12,777|||||
|08313|**21** Yumbel|align="right"|727.0|align="right"|20,498|||||
|08314|**8** Alto Biobío|align="right"|2,124.6|align="right"|7,027|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Bío Bío province**|align="right"|14,987.9|align="right"|353,315|||||
|colspan=4|**Total of the region**|align="right"|**37,068.7**|align="right"|**1,861,562**|||||

## Related pages

- Regions of Chile

## Other websites

- Territorial division of Chile
- Gobierno Regional del Bío Bío Official website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **official name**: Biobío Region
- **native name**: Región del Biobío
- **native name lang**: es
- **settlement type**: Regions of Chile, Region of Chile
- **seat type**: Capital (political), Capital
- **seat**: Concepción, Chile, Concepción
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **parts type**: Provinces of Chile, Provinces
- **parts**: Biobío Province, Biobío, Concepción Province, Chile, Concepción, Arauco Province, Arauco
- **leader title**: Intendant
- **leader name**: Jorge Ulloa Aguillón
- **leader party**: Independent Democratic Union, UDI
- **image flag**: Flag of Biobío Region, Chile.svg
- **flag size**: 120px
- **flag alt**: Flag of Biobío Region
- **image shield**: Coat of arms of Biobío Region, Chile.svg
- **shield size**: 75px
- **shield alt**: Coat of Arms of Biobío Region
- **image map**: Biobio in Chile 2018.svg
- **mapsize**: 250px
- **map caption**: Map of Biobío Region
- **area total km2**: 23890.2
- **area rank**: 10
- **elevation min m**: 0
- **population total**: 1557414
- **population as of**: 2017 census
- **population rank**: 3
- **population density km2**: auto
- **blank name sec1**: Human Development Index, HDI (2019)
- **blank info sec1**: 0.826

- **website**: [http://www.gorebiobio.cl/ Official website]
- **iso code**: ISO 3166-2:CL, CL-BI