El Ranco Provincelaw 20.294 /ref> () is one of two
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 southern
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 ...
an
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 ...
Ranco Lake
Lake Ranco () is situated in the Ranco Province of Los Lagos Region in Chile. Covering an area of 442 km2, it is the largest lake in the Los Ríos Region and the List of lakes in Chile, fourth largest in Chile. It has approximately 25 islands an ...
shared by the
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 ...
(''comunas'') of
Futrono
Futrono (from the Mapudungun: ''Futronhue'', meaning "place of smoke") is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Futrono. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region, on the northwest shore of Ranco Lake ...
Bueno River
The Bueno River (Spanish: ''Río Bueno'') is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms t ...
, on which basin lies most of the province. La Unión is the provincial capital.
Administration
As 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 ...
, the province comprises four communes, each with its own governing municipality. Alsono Pérez de Arce Carrasco is the provincial governor.
Communes
*
Futrono
Futrono (from the Mapudungun: ''Futronhue'', meaning "place of smoke") is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Futrono. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region, on the northwest shore of Ranco Lake ...
According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 97,153 inhabitants (49,485 men and 47,668 women), giving it a population density of . Of these, 51,273 (52.8%) lived in urban areas and 45,880 (47.2%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 1% (924 persons).