Concepción Province is one of four provinces

Provinces of Chile

A province is the second largest administrative division in Chile, after a region. Each region is divided into provinces. There are 54 provinces in total....

 of the Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an region of Biobío (VIII). Its capital, Concepción

Concepción, Chile

Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...

, is part of the Greater Concepción

Greater Concepción

Gran Concepción is the second largest conurbation in Chile, after Greater Santiago with 1,013,856 inhabitants. According to the National Statistics Institute , the population projection for 2012 is 1,019,775 inhabitants....

 conurbation, the nation's second largest metropolitan area after Santiago.

Administration

As a province, Concepción is a second-level administrative division

Administrative divisions of Chile

The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law....

 of Chile, governed by a provincial governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 who is appointed by the president

President of Chile

The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...

.

Communes

The province comprises twelve communes, each governed by a municipality consisting of an elected alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 and municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

.

• Concepción
  Concepción, Chile
  Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
  
  
• Coronel
• Chiguayante
  Chiguayante
  Chiguayante is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Biobío Region. It is part of Greater Concepción.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Chiguayante spans an area of and has 81,302 inhabitants . Of these, 81,238 lived in urban areas and 64...
  
  
• Florida
  Florida, Chile
  Florida is a Chilean town and commune located in the Concepción Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Florida spans an area of and has 10,177 inhabitants . Of these, 3,875 lived in urban areas and 6,302 in rural areas...
  
  
• Hualpén
  Hualpén
  Hualpén is a Chilean city and commune belonging to Concepción Province and the Biobío Region. It forms part of the conurbation of Greater Concepción. The commune spans an area of .-Demographics:...
  
  
• Hualqui
  Hualqui
  Hualqui is a Chilean city and commune in the Concepción Province, Biobio Region. It is also part of the Greater Concepcion conurbation, although it maintains a rural profile. It had a population of 18,768 inhabitants according to the 2002 census....
  
  
• Lota
  Lota, Chile
  Lota is a city and commune located in the center of the Chile on the Gulf of Arauco. It lies within the Concepción Province of the Biobío Region.-History:...
  
  
• Penco
  Penco
  Penco is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Biobío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo on February 12, 1550 by Pedro de Valdivia, it is the third oldest city in the country after Santiago founded first in 1541 and La Serena second...
  
  
• San Pedro de la Paz
  San Pedro de la Paz
  San Pedro de la Paz is a Chilean city and commune located in the Concepción Province, Biobío Region. It has some 80,447 inhabitants according to the 2002 national census. In 2005, the Pedro Aguirre Cerda avenue, the main avenue in the city, was completed. Most of the inhabitants of this comuna...
  
  
• Santa Juana
  Santa Juana, Chile
  Santa Juana is a city and commune of the Concepción Province in the Biobío Region of Chile. It lies south and west of the Biobío River in the valley of Catirai and is 48 kilometers from Concepcion, Chile.- History :...
  
  
• Talcahuano
  Talcahuano
  Talcahuano is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.-Geography:...
  
  
• Tomé
  Tomé
  Tomé is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is bordered by Coelemu to the north, Ránquil and Florida to the east, Penco to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west...
  
  

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute

National Statistics Institute (Chile)

The National Statistics Institute of Chile is a state-run organization of the Government of Chile, created in the second half of the 19th century and tasked with performing a general census of population and housing, then collecting, producing and publishing official demographic statistics of...

 (INE), the province spans an area of 3439.3 sqkm and had a population of 912,889 inhabitants (441,953 men and 470,936 women), giving it a population density of 265.4 PD/sqkm. It is the second most populated province after the more than five times larger Santiago Province (pop. 4,668,473). Of these, 879,854 (96.4%) lived in urban areas and 33,035 (3.6%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 8.5% (71,444 persons).