Arauco Province

The Arauco Province () is one of three provinces of the Chilean region of Bío Bío (VIII). The provincial capital Is the city of Lebu.

History
In 1852, the old province of Arauco was created with the southern parts of the province of Concepción; it had three departments: Arauco, Laja and Nacimiento.

In 1927, Arauco was eliminated as a province and became again part of the province of Concepción but, in 1934, Arauco was made again a province with the departments Arauco, Cañete and Lebu. When the regions were created in 1975, the Bío Bío region was formed with the Arauco, Biobío, Concepción and Ñuble provinces.

Geography
The Arauco province is in the southwest of the Bío Bío region along the Pacific Ocean, with an area of . The capital, Lebu, is on the coast about  south of Concepción, the capital of the region.

Arauco is bordered to the north by the Concepción province, to the northeast by the Biobío province, to the east by the Malleco province (Araucanía region), to the south and southwest by the Cautín province (Araucanía region and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.

The Mocha island is a small island that is west of the Arauco province, in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the comuna of Lebu. It has an area of about .

Population
 (last national census), there were 157,255 people living in the province, giving it a population density of  inhabitants/km². The urban population was 117,569 persons ( of the total).

The largest city in 2002 of the province is Curanilahue with 30,126 inhabitants. Its capital Lebu, has a population of 20,838 inhabitants. Other cities are Cañete (19,839 inhabitants), Arauco (16,291 inhabitants) and Los Álamos (13,035 inhabitants).

Administration
As a province, Arauco is a second-level administrative division, consisting of 7 communes (comunas). The city of Lebu serves as the provincial capital. The province is administered by a governor.

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+ Arauco province Code Comuna  Capital Area(km²) Population(2002) Density 08201 5 Lebu Lebu 561.4 25,035  08202 1 Arauco Arauco 956.1 34,873  08203 2 Cañete Cañete 1,089.2 31,270  08204 3 Contulmo Contulmo 638.8 5,838  08205 4 Curanilahue Curanilahue 994.3 31,943  08206 6 Los Álamos Los Álamos 599.1 18,632  08207 7 Tirúa Tirúa 624.4 9,664  Total of the Arauco province 5,463.3 157,255 

Gallery

Related pages
 Provinces of Chile

References

Other websites
 Territorial division of Chile 
 Gobierno Regional del Bío Bío Official website 
 Province of Arauco website 

Category:Provinces of Chile
Category:Bío Bío Region