Talca Province () is one of four

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 Maule (VII). Its capital is the city of

Talca Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an important ...

Administration

As a province, Talca 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, governed by the regional delegate of

Maule Region The Maule Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,6 ...

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 ten communes, each governed by a municipality consisting of an

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 ...

. *

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the O ...

* Pelarco *

Pencahue Pencahue () is a town and commune in Chile, located in Talca Province, in the seventh region of Maule. The commune spans and area of . Also there are another three places called Pencahue, near to San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Sexta Región, Chile ...

* Maule * San Rafael *

Curepto Curepto is a town and commune in the Chilean Province of Talca, located in the VII Maule Region. The commune spans an area of . Culture The town has many examples of Chilean rural colonial architecture. Its parish church is a quintessential ex ...

* Constitución * Empedrado *

Río Claro Río Claro is a commune of the Talca Province in Chile's Maule Region. The municipal seat is the town of Cumpeo. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Río Claro spans an area of and has 12,698 inhab ...

Geography

To the east the

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

slopes cover a considerable part of its territory, and in the west another large area is covered by the

Chilean Coast Range The Chilean Coastal Range () is a mountain range that runs from north to south along the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America parallel to the Andes, Andean Mountains, extending from Morro de Arica in the north to Taitao Peninsula, where ...

. Between these is the central valley of Chile. The mountainous parts are well wooded, and the intermediate plain, which is rolling and slopes gently to the south, is fertile.

Demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 352,966 inhabitants (174,734 men and 178,232 women), giving it a population density of . Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 12.4% (39,015 persons).

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Maule Region 01 Provinces of Chile