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Chile is divided into 13 regions^[1] (in Spanish, ''regiones''; singular ''región''), each of which is headed by an intendant (''intendente)'', appointed by the president.
The regions have formally both a name and a Roman numeral (e.g. IV, fourth), with the numbers being assigned in sequence from north to south. In general, the Roman numeral is used rather than the name. The only exception is the region where the national capital is situated, which is called the Santiago Metropolitan Region (''Región Metropolitana de Santiago'', or ''RM'').
Regions are divided into provinces, each headed by a governor (''gobernador''), appointed by the president. There are 51 (53 pending^[2]) provinces, in total.
Provinces are further divided into communes, which are governed by municipalities. According to the Chilean constitution, municipalities, each with its own mayor (''alcalde''), and councilors, known as ''concejales''. elected by the municipality's inhabitants are responsible to administrate one or more communes. There are 346 communes administrated by 345 municipalities. The single commune which is grouped with another is the commune of Antártica, which is combined with the commune of Cabo de Hornos

Contents

History of the regional structure

List of regions

See also

References

History of the regional structure

The current administrative divisions of Chile were created in 1974 but limited to 13. Previously, Chile was divided into 25 provinces, which were further divided into departments, and then into communes. The new territorial organization was implemented in phases with some initial "pilot regions" beginning to operate in 1974, extending the process on January 1 1976 to the rest of the country. The Santiago Metropolitan Region began to operate in April 1980.
In 2005, reforms to the Constitution eliminated the 13-region limit, and allowed for more regions to be created.
On December 19, 2006 the Congress passed a bill approving the creation of two new regions: one in the north of the country called ''XV Arica-Parinacota Region'', encompassing the provinces of Arica and Parinacota which are currently part of the Tarapacá Region; and another in the south, formed by the province of Valdivia, formerly part of the Los Lagos Region, called ''XIV Los Ríos Region'' (The Rivers Region).^[3]

List of regions

'Key'	'Name'	'Spanish full'	'Capital'
I	Tarapacá		Iquique
II	Antofagasta		Antofagasta
III	Atacama		Copiapo
IV	Coquimbo		La Serena
V	Valparaíso		Valparaiso
VI	O'Higgins		Rancagua
VII	Maule		Talca
VIII	Bío-Bío		Concepción
IX	Araucanía		Temuco
X	Los Lagos		Puerto Montt
XI	Aysén1		Coyhaique
XII	Magallanes y Antártica Chilena		Punta Arenas
RM	Santiago Metropolitan Region		Santiago

# Also spelled Aisén.
In 2006, the Chilean congress created two new regions, one in the north, around the city of Arica, called ''Región XV de Arica y Parinacota'' (Arica-Parinacota Region), and one in the south centered around Valdivia, named ''Región XIV de los Ríos'' (Los Ríos Region), expected to be functional by mid. 2007

See also

★

★ Provinces of Chile

★ Communes of Chile

★ Patagonia

References

1. 2 new regions to be functional in October, 2007
2. La Nacion, announcement in Spanish
3. La Nación