Iquique Province is one of two 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....

 in the northern 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 Tarapacá

Tarapacá Region

The I Tarapacá Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It borders the Chilean Arica and Parinacota Region to the north, Bolivia's Oruro Department on the east, the Antofagasta Region on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. The port city of Iquique The I Tarapacá...

 (I). Its capital is the port city of Iquique

Iquique

Iquique is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Atacama Desert and the Pampa del Tamarugal. It had a population of 216,419 as of the 2002 census...

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History

Until October 2007, the Province of Iquique was composed of 7 communes: High Hospice, Camina, Colchane, Huara, Iquique, Pica and Pozo Almonte, but since then, with the creation of the Region of Arica and Parinacota, much of the province, specifically the municipalities of Huara, Camina, Colchane, Pozo SAlmonte and Pica, pass shape administratively Tamarugal Province, leaving Iquique Province consists of two communes.
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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 2835.3 sqkm and had a population of 216,419 inhabitants (108,897 men and 107,522 women), giving it a population density of 76.3 PD/sqkm. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 30.8% (50,959 persons).

Administration

As a province

Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

, Iquique is a second-level administrative division of Chile, which is further divided into two communes (comunas): the capital Iquique and its suburb Alto Hospicio

Alto Hospicio

Alto Hospicio is a Chilean municipality and commune located next to Iquique, in the Iquique Province, I Region. It is a fast growing popular area in the heights of Iquique, becoming the second commune of the Greater Iquique conurbation which as an estimated population of 275,000 in...

. The province is administered by a presidentially appointed governor. Felipe Rojas Andrade was appointed by 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...

 Sebastián Piñera

Sebastián Piñera

Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique is a Chilean businessman and politician. He was elected President of Chile in January 2010, taking office in March 2010.- Education :...

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