Maipo Province is one of six 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 Santiago Metropolitan Region

Santiago Metropolitan Region

Santiago Metropolitan Region or simply Metropolitan Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago...

 of central 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...

. Its capital is San Bernardo

San Bernardo, Chile

San Bernardo is a Chilean city and commune. It is the capital of the Maipo Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardo.-Demographics:...

.

Administration

As a province, Maipo 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 is composed of four communes (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

: comunas), each governed by a municipality consisting of an 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...

:

• Buin
  Buin, Chile
  Buin is a city and commune of Chile, in the Maipo Province, Metropolitan Region of Santiago, which forms part of Greater Santiago. It is a city conformed by the towns of Maipo, Viluco, Linderos, Valdivia de Paine, Alto Jahuel, Los Guindos and El Recurso...
  
  
• Paine
  Paine, Chile
  Paine is a Chilean city, forming part of Greater Santiago, and a commune in the Maipo Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Paine spans an area of and has 50,028 inhabitants . Of these, 31,622 lived in urban areas...
  
  
• San Bernardo
  San Bernardo, Chile
  San Bernardo is a Chilean city and commune. It is the capital of the Maipo Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardo.-Demographics:...
  
  , capital
• Calera de Tango
  Calera de Tango
  Calera de Tango is a Chilean commune in the Maipo Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Calera de Tango spans an area of and has 18,235 inhabitants . Of these, 9,932 lived in urban areas and 8,303 in rural areas...
  
  

Geography and demography

The province spans an area of 1120.5 sqkm, making it the second smallest province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. According to the 2002 census, Maipo was the third most populous province in the region with a total population of 378,444. At that time, there were 336,198 people living in urban area

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

s, 42,246 living in rural areas, 187,789 men, and 190,655 women.