Capitán Prat Province is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Aysén (XI). Its capital is Cochrane. The province is named after the naval hero Arturo Prat.

Geography and demography

It is Chile's eighth largest and fourth least populated province as well as the most sparsely populated province in continental Chile. According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the province spans an area of 37043.6 sqkm and had a population of 3,837 inhabitants (2,154 men and 1,683 women), giving it a population density of 0.10 per km2 (0.3 per m2). At that time, 2,217 (57.8%) lived in urban areas and 1,620 (42.2%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 1.5% (56 persons).

Administration

As a province, Capitán Prat is a second-level administrative division, governed by a provincial governor appointed by the president. The province comprises three communes, each governed by a municipality, headed by an alcalde: Cochrane, O'Higgins and Tortel.