Cachapoal Province () is one of three

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

of the central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of O'Higgins (VI). Its

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

is the city of Rancagua (pop. 214,344).

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 542,901 inhabitants (271,226 men and 271,675 women), giving it a population density of . It is the fifth most populated province in the country. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 13.8% (65,871 persons).

Administration

As a province, Cachapoal is a second-level

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of Chile. It is governed by the regional delegate of O'Higgins, who is appointed by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Communes

The province comprises seventeen

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, each governed by a municipality consisting of an elected

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

and

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

. * Codegua * Coínco * Coltauco * Doñihue * Graneros * Las Cabras * Machalí * Malloa * Olivar * Peumo * Pichidegua * Quinta de Tilcoco * Rancagua * Requínoa *

Rengo Rengo is a city and commune located in the Zona Central of Chile, situated in the Cachapoal Province of the O'Higgins Region at a distance of south of the city of Rancagua and south of the national capital Santiago. It was named after the c ...

* Mostazal * San Vicente de Tagua Tagua

Cachapoal Valley wine region

Located 85 km (53 mi) south of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, the Cachapoal Valley is a wine-growing area in Cachapoal in the O`Higgins Region of central

, to the north of the Rapel Valley.Regions, Cachapoal Valley
Published by Wine-Searcher.com , Last updated 21-Aug-2013 by Wine-Searcher Staff retrieved October 22, 2013 It is located between the heights of Paine to the north and Pelequén to the south and between the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

to the west and the smaller coastal range to the east. The valley takes its name from the Cachapoal River that flows through Rapel Valley along with its tributaries, the Claro and Cortaderal Rivers. All these watercourses flow into Lake Rapel. The climate of the valley is temperate and consistently

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, sheltered by the coastal range from the cooling influences of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. Most of Cachapoal's noteworthy wineries and vineyards are located toward the east of the region, in the foothills of the Andes, away from the warmer valley floor. This is an area for

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

vines, whereas closer to the coast the ocean breezes flow through the coastal range, and there are more Carménère vines.

References

External links

*
''Gobernación de Cachapoal''
{{Communes in Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region Cachapoal Provinces of O'Higgins Region