Province of El Loa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Province of El Loa Provincia de El Loa
Province
Seal El Loa province, in red, in the Antofagasta Region Province of El Loa Location in Chile
Country	Chile
Region	Antofagasta
Capital	Calama
Comunas	Calama, Ollagüe, San Pedro de Atacama
Government
• Type	Provincial
Area
• Total	41,999.6 km2 (16,216.1 sq mi)
Population  (2002 Census)
• Total	143,689
• Density	3.421199/km2 (8.86087/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-4 (CLT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (CLST)
Area code(s)	56 + 55
Website	Official website: http://www.gobernacionloa.gov.cl/

The Province of El Loa (Spanish: Provincia de El Loa) is one of three provinces of the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta (II). It is named after the longest river of Chile, the Loa. The provincial capital is Calama.

Geography

The El Loa province has an area of 41,999.6 km² (16,216.1 sq mi).

The province is bordered on the north by the Tarapacá region, on the east by Bolivia, on the south by Argentina and on the west by the Antofagasta and the Tocopilla provinces.

	Tocopilla province	Tarapacá region
	Antofagasta province		Bolivia
		El Loa province
		Argentina, Antofagasta province	Argentina

Population

As of 2002^[update] (last national census), there were 143,689 people living in the province, giving it a population density of 3.4 inhabitants/km².

The largest city of the province is Calama, its capital, with a population, in 2002, of 126,135 inhabitants.

Administration

As a province, the El Loa province is a second-level administrative division, consisting of three communes (comunas). The city of Calama serves as the provincial capital. The province is administered by a governor.

The Antofagasta province (communes 5, 6, 7)