Chiloé Province is one of the four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Los Lagos (X). It consists of all of Chiloé Archipelago (including Chiloé Island) with the exception of the Desertores Islands. The province spans a surface area of 9181.6 sqkm. Its capital is Castro, and the seat of the Roman Catholic bishopric is Ancud.

Administration

As a province, Chiloé is a second-level administrative division of Chile, governed by a provincial governor who is appointed by the president.

Communes

The province is composed of ten communes, each governed by a municipality consisting of an alcalde and municipal council.

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the province spans an area of 7165.5 sqkm and had a population of 142,194 inhabitants (71,386 men and 70,808 women), giving it a population density of 19.8 PD/sqkm. Of these, 82,058 (57.7%) lived in urban areas and 60,136 (42.3%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 9.1% (11,805 persons).