El Ranco Province

The El Ranco Province (Provincia del Ranco) is one of two provinces of the Chilean region of Los Ríos (XIV). The provincial capital is the city of La Unión.

The El Ranco province, as Ranco province, was created with the creation of the Los Ríos region in 2007. The name of the province was changed from Ranco to El Ranco in 2008.

Geography
The El Ranco province is in the southern half of the Los Ríos region with an area of 8232.3 sqmi. The capital, La Unión, is in the western part of the province.

El Ranco is bordered to the north by the Valdivia province, to the east by Argentina, to the south by the Los Lagos region and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.

The main river in the province is Bueno river that flows from the Ranco lake to the Pacific Ocean; it is 130 km long.

Climate
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Lago Ranco, at an altitude of 153 m, is 1976.1 mm. The month with the most precipitation on average is May with 272.9 mm of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of 78.6 mm.

Population
In 2002 (last national census), there were 97,153 people living in the province, giving it a population density of inhabitants/km². The urban population was 51,273 persons (53% of the total population).

The largest city of the province, in 2002, is its capital, La Unión, with 25,615 inhabitants.

Administration
As a province, El Ranco is a second-level administrative division, consisting of 4 communes (comunas). The city of La Unión serves as the provincial capital. The province is administered by a governor.

Related pages

 * Provinces of Chile

Other websites

 * Territorial division of Chile
 * Gobierno Regional de Los Ríos Official website
 * Province of El Ranco website