Regions of Chile

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Chile is divided into thirteen regions (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).

The regions are divided into 51 provinces, each headed by a governor (gobernador).

The provinces are divided into 324 municipalities.[1] which are sometimes referred to as comunas, each with its own mayor (alcalde), and councilors, known as consejales elected by their inhabitants.

Provincial governors are appointed by the president.

1 History of the regional structure
2 List of regions
3 See also
4 External links

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History of the regional structure

The current administrative divisions of Chile were created in 1974 by the Pinochet military dictatorship. Previously, Chile was divided into 25 provinces, which were further divided into departments, and then into municipalities. 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 2003, President Ricardo Lagos sent a bill to Congress so that lawmakers could discuss the administrative division of the country, now under democracy. In 2005, reforms to the Constitution eliminated the 13-region limit, and allowed for more regions to be created.

In October, 2005 the President sent another bill to Congress calling for the creation of two new regions: one in the north of the country called "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, currently part of the Los Lagos Region, tentatively called "Los Ríos Region" (The Rivers Region). If this bill is approved, it may open the way for other regions to be created, such as in the provinces of Ñuble, Aconcagua, and in provinces in the south of the Maule Region.

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List of regions

Key	Name	Spanish full	Capital
I	Tarapacá	Región de Tarapacá	Iquique
II	Antofagasta	Región de Antofagasta	Antofagasta
III	Atacama	Región de Atacama	Copiapo
IV	Coquimbo	Región de Coquimbo	La Serena
V	Valparaíso	Región de Valparaíso	Valparaiso
VI	O'Higgins	Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins	Rancagua
VII	Maule	Región del Maule	Talca
VIII	Bío-Bío	Región del Bío-Bío	Concepcion
IX	Araucanía	Región de la Araucanía	Temuco
X	Los Lagos	Región de Los Lagos	Puerto Montt
XI	Aysen*	Región Aysen del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo	Coyhaique
XII	Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena	Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena	Punta Arenas
RM	Santiago Metropolitan Region	Región Metropolitana de Santiago	Santiago