Maule Region

The **VII Maule Region** () is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca.

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

## History

The city of Talca was founded in 1692 by General Governor Tomás Marín de Poveda. On 17 February 1742 it got the name of _Villa San Agustín de Talca_ by Governor José Antonio Manso de Velasco. Curicó followed in 1743, Linares and Parral in 1794.

In Talca is the house where Bernardo O'Higgins signed the proclamation of the independence of Chile on 12 February 1818. It is now a museum.

## Geography

The Maule region borders the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins region to the north, Argentina to the east, the Ñuble region to the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

The two main rivers in the region are the Maule and the Mataquito rivers.

## Population

, there were (estimated) 1,042,989 persons living in the region, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

People from this region are known as _Maulinos_ (women: _Maulinas_).

The largest city in the region is Talca, with 189,505 inhabitants (2002 census).

## Administration

The Maule region is further subdivided into four provinces: Talca, Curicó, Linares and Cauquenes.

|Province|Capital|Code|Comuna|Area <small>(km²)</small>|Population <small>(2002)</small>|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="10" valign="top"|Talca (071)|rowspan="10" valign="top"|Talca|07101|**30** Talca|align="right"|231.5|align="right"|201,797|
|07102|**21** Constitución|align="right"|1,343.6|align="right"|46,081|||||
|07103|**22** Curepto|align="right"|1,073.8|align="right"|10,812|||||
|07104|**23** Empedrado|align="right"|564.9|align="right"|4,225|||||
|07105|**24** Maule|align="right"|238.2|align="right"|16,837|||||
|07106|**25** Pelarco|align="right"|331.5|align="right"|7,266|||||
|07107|**26** Pencahue|align="right"|956.8|align="right"|8,315|||||
|07108|**27** Río Claro|align="right"|430.5|align="right"|12,698|||||
|07109|**28** San Clemente|align="right"|4,503.6|align="right"|37,261|||||
|07110|**29** San Rafael|align="right"|263.5|align="right"|7,674|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Talca province**|align="right"|9,937.8|align="right"|352,966|||||
|rowspan="4" valign="top"|Cauquenes (072)|rowspan="4" valign="top"|Cauquenes|||||||
|07201|**1** Cauquenes|align="right"|2,126.3|align="right"|41,217|||||
|07202|**2** Chanco|align="right"|529.5|align="right"|9,457|||||
|07203|**3** Pelluhue|align="right"|371.4|align="right"|6,414|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Cauquenes province**|align="right"|3,027.2|align="right"|57,088|||||
|rowspan="10" valign="top"|Curicó (073)|rowspan="10" valign="top"|Curicó|||||||
|07301|**4** Curicó|align="right"|1,328.4|align="right"|119,585|||||
|07302|**5** Hualañé|align="right"|629.0|align="right"|9,741|||||
|07303|**6** Licantén|align="right"|273.3|align="right"|6,902|||||
|07304|**7** Molina|align="right"|1,551.6|align="right"|38,521|||||
|07305|**8** Rauco|align="right"|308.6|align="right"|8,566|||||
|07306|**9** Romeral|align="right"|1,597.1|align="right"|12,707|||||
|07307|**10** Sagrada Familia|align="right"|548.8|align="right"|17,519|||||
|07308|**11** Teno|align="right"|618.4|align="right"|25,596|||||
|07309|**12** Vichuquén|align="right"|425.7|align="right"|4,916|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Curicó province**|align="right"|7,280.9|align="right"|244,053|||||
|rowspan="9" valign="top"|Linares (074)|rowspan="9" valign="top"|Linares|||||||
|07401|**14** Linares|align="right"|1,465.7|align="right"|83,249|||||
|07402|**13** Colbún|align="right"|2,899.9|align="right"|17,619|||||
|07403|**15** Longaví|align="right"|1,453.8|align="right"|28,161|||||
|07404|**16** Parral|align="right"|1,638.4|align="right"|37,822|||||
|07405|**17** Retiro|align="right"|827.1|align="right"|18,487|||||
|07406|**18** San Javier|align="right"|1,313.4|align="right"|37,793|||||
|07407|**19** Villa Alegre|align="right"|189.8|align="right"|14,725|||||
|07408|**20** Yerbas Buenas|align="right"|262.1|align="right"|16,134|||||
|colspan=4 align="right"|**Total of Linares province**|align="right"|10,050.2|align="right"|253,990|||||
|colspan=4|**Total of the region**|align="right"|**30,296.1**|align="right"|**908,097**|||||

## Related pages

- Regions of Chile

## Other websites

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

## Infobox (settlement)

- **official name**: Maule Region
- **native name**: Región del Maule
- **native name lang**: es
- **settlement type**: Regions of Chile, Region of Chile
- **seat type**: Capital (political), Capital
- **seat**: Talca
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **parts type**: Provinces of Chile, Provinces
- **parts**: Curicó Province, Curicó, Talca Province, Talca, Linares Province, Linares, Cauquenes Province, Cauquenes
- **leader title**: Intendant
- **leader name**: Pablo Milad
- **leader party**: Political Evolution, Evopoli
- **image skyline**: File:Lago Colbún.jpg
- **image caption**: Colbún Lake
- **image flag**: Flag of Maule, Chile.svg
- **flag size**: 120px
- **flag alt**: Flag of Maule Region
- **image shield**: Coat of arms of Maule Region, Chile.svg
- **shield size**: 75px
- **shield alt**: Coat of Arms of Maule Region
- **image map**: Maule in Chile 2018.svg
- **mapsize**: 250px
- **map caption**: Map of Maule Region
- **area total km2**: 30296.1
- **area rank**: 9
- **elevation min m**: 0
- **population total**: 1033197
- **population as of**: 2017 census
- **population rank**: 4
- **population density km2**: auto
- **blank name sec1**: Human Development Index, HDI (2019)
- **blank info sec1**: 0.790

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