Linares Province

Linares () is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule (VII). The provincial capital and largest city is Linares.

History
In 1873, the province of Linares was created from the old province of Maule; it had three departments: Linares, Parral and Loncomilla.

In 1927, Linares is eliminated as a province and became part of the new province of Maule but, in 1936, Linares was made again a province. When the regions were created in 1975, the Maule region was formed with the Curicó, Linares, Maule and Talca; later, the province of Cauquenes was added.

Geography
Linares is a landlocked province (it does not border the ocean) with an area of , the largest province in the Maule region.

The province is at the very center of mainland Chile, and its capital is at  south of Santiago and  south of Talca, the regional capital, in the middle of a rich agricultural area and with many vineyards.

Linares is a landlocked province (it does not border the ocean) and is bordered to the north by the Talca province, to the east by Argentina, to the south by the Ñuble province (Bío Bío region) and to the west by the Cauquenes province.

Population
 (last national census), there were 253,990 people living in the province, giving it a population density of  inhabitants/km². The urban population was 139,742 persons ( of the total).

The largest city of the province is Linares, its capital, with a population, in 2002, of 65,133 inhabitants, followed by the cities of Parral (26,397 inhabitants) and San Javier (20,524 inhabitants).

Administration
As a province, Linares is a second-level administrative division, consisting of 8 communes (comunas). The city of Linares serves as the provincial capital. The province is administered by a governor.


+ Linares province Code Comuna Capital Area(km²) Population(2002) Density 07401 14 Linares Linares 1,465.7 83,249  07402 13 Colbún Colbún 2,899.9 17,619  07403 15 Longaví  Longaví 1,453.8 28,161  07404 16 Parral Parral 1,638.4 37,822  07405 17 Retiro Retiro 827.1 18,487  07406 18 San Javier San Javier 1,313.4 37,793  07407 19 Villa Alegre Villa Alegre 189.8 14,725  07408 20 Yerbas Buenas Yerbas Buenas 262.1 16,134  Total of the Linares province 10,050.2 253,990 

Gallery

Related pages
 Provinces of Chile

References

Other websites

 Territorial division of Chile 
 Gobierno Regional del Maule  Official website 
 Province of Linares website 

Category:Provinces of Chile
Category:Maule Region