Magallanes Province

Magallanes Province

Provincia de Magallanes
Magallanes Province Provincia de Magallanes
Province
	Morro Chico, Laguna Blanca
	Seal
	Location in the Magallanes Region
	Magallanes Province Location in Chile
	Coordinates: 53°10′S 70°56′W / 53.167°S 70.933°W
Country	Chile
Region	Magallanes y Antártica Chilena
Named for	Ferdinand Magellan
Capital	Punta Arenas
Communes	List of 4: Punta Arenas; Río Verde; Laguna Blanca; San Gregorio;
Government
• Type	Provincial
• Governor	Nicolás Cogler Galindo (RN)
Area
• Total	36,400.8 km2 (14,054.4 sq mi)
Population (2012 Census)
• Total	129,199
• Density	3.5/km2 (9.2/sq mi)
• Urban	116,005
• Rural	5,670
Sex
• Men	62,360
• Women	59,315
Time zone	UTC-3 (CLST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (CLST)
Area code	56 + 61
Website	Government of Magallanes

Magallanes Province (Spanish: Provincia de Magallanes) is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena. The provincial capital is the city of Punta Arenas.

Geography and demography

Its eastern portion is located along the northern shore of the Strait of Magellan while the western portion straddles the strait on either side of the strait's northwesterly stretch toward the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Última Esperanza Province to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south.

This is the main terrestrial and aerial entry point to the southernmost region in Chile. Either coming from Argentina, via Río Gallegos by car, or by plane, arriving at the Carlos Ibáñez Del Campo International Airport. On this province there are several touristic places, such as Port Famine, Fuerte Bulnes, two penguin colonies and the first marine park in the country.

According to National Statistics Institute's 2002 census, it has an area of 36,400.8 km² (14,054 sq mi). It is the ninth largest province in the country. It then had a population of 121,675 inhabitants (62,360 men and 59,315 women), giving it a population density of 3.3/km² (9/sq mi). Of these, 116,005 (95.3%) lived in urban areas and 5,670 (4.7%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 4.4% (5,164 persons).^[1]

Administration

As a province, Magallanes is a second-level administrative division of Chile, headed by a governor who is appointed by the president. It consists of four communes (Spanish: comunas): Punta Arenas, Río Verde, Laguna Blanca and San Gregorio.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Territorial division of Chile" (PDF) (in Spanish). National Statistics Institute. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
^ "Chile Time". WorldTimeZones.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
^ "Chile Summer Time". WorldTimeZones.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2010-07-28.