A commune (Spanish: comuna) is the smallest administrative subdivision in Chile and may contain cities, towns, villages, hamlets as well as rural areas. In highly populated areas such as some cities, there may be no practical distinction between the city and the commune which contains it. In sparsely populated areas, a commune may contain substantial rural area together with several settled areas which could range from hamlets to towns or cities. Each commune is governed by a directly-elected body or municipality (municipalidad), consisting of one mayor (alcalde) and a group of councilmen (concejales), for a period of four years. According to Chilean law, a single municipality may administer one or more communes. Currently, the only such case is the municipality of Cabo de Hornos, which administers the communes of Antártica and Cabo de Hornos. Chile's 346 communes are grouped into 53 provinces, which are themselves grouped into 15 regions. List of communes by region and provinceTraditionally, Chilean regions are listed in geographical order starting with the most northern extreme, but leaving the Metropolitan Santiago Region to the end of the list. The following listing reflects this ordering scheme with the provinces within each region, and the communes in each province also being listed from north to south. XV – Arica and Parinacota RegionArica ProvinceParinacota ProvinceI – Tarapacá RegionIquique ProvinceTamarugal ProvinceII – Antofagasta RegionAntofagasta ProvinceEl Loa ProvinceTocopilla ProvinceIII – Atacama RegionCopiapó ProvinceChañaral ProvinceHuasco ProvinceIV – Coquimbo RegionElqui ProvinceChoapa ProvinceLimarí ProvinceV – Valparaíso RegionValparaíso ProvinceIsla de Pascua ProvinceLos Andes ProvincePetorca ProvinceQuillota ProvinceSan Antonio ProvinceSan Felipe de Aconcagua ProvinceVI – O'Higgins RegionCachapoal Province
Cardenal Caro ProvinceColchagua ProvinceVII – Maule RegionTalca ProvinceCauquenes ProvinceCuricó ProvinceLinares ProvinceVIII – Biobío RegionConcepción Province
Arauco ProvinceBiobío Province
Ñuble Province
IX – Araucanía RegionCautín Province
Malleco ProvinceXIV – Los Ríos RegionValdivia ProvinceRanco ProvinceX – Los Lagos RegionLlanquihue ProvinceChiloé ProvinceOsorno ProvincePalena ProvinceXI – Aisén RegionCoihaique ProvinceAisén ProvinceCapitán Prat ProvinceGeneral Carrera ProvinceXII – Magallanes y Antártica Chilena RegionMagallanes ProvinceAntártica Chilena Province
Tierra del Fuego ProvinceÚltima Esperanza ProvinceRM – Santiago Metropolitan RegionSantiago Province
Cordillera ProvinceChacabuco ProvinceMaipo ProvinceMelipilla ProvinceTalagante ProvinceSee also
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