Cauquenes Province () is one of four provinces of the Maule Region in Chile. It spans an area of , and has its capital at the city of Cauquenes. It had a population of 60,822 inhabitants as per the 2024 Chilean census.
History The Maule Region was established in 1970. It is divided into four provinces–Cauquenes, Curicó, Linares, and Talca, which are further divided into 30 communes.
Geography Cauquenes Province is one of the four provinces of the Maule Region in Chile. It covers an area of . About 60% of the land area belongs to the Maule River basin, with the remanining land majorly forming the coastline.
Cauquenes is located in the southern part of the Maule Valley, a wine making region in Chile. The region has clayey and pumice based soils, where red wine grapes are grown.
The province has a warm Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csb) with an average annual temperature of . The region receives approximately of rainfall annually on average.
Administration As a province, Cauquenes is a second-level administrative division of Chile, governed by a provincial governor. It is further subdivided into three communes (comunas)– Cauquenes, Chanco and Pelluhue. Its capital is the city of Cauquenes.
Demographics According to the 2024 Chilean census, the province had a population of 60,822 inhabitants. The population consisted of 31,671 females (52.1%) and 29,151 males (47.9%). About 17.4% of the population was below the age of 15 years, 63.7% belonged to the age group of 15–64 years, and 18.9% was aged 65 years or older. The province had an urban population of 41,357 inhabitants (68%) and a rural population of 19,465 inhabitants (32%). Most of the residents were born in Chile, accounting for 59,837 inhabitants (98.4%). Non-indigenous people formed the majority of the population with 58,813 inhabitants (96.7%), while 2,007 inhabitants (3.3%) identified themselves as belonging to indigenous groups. Roman Catholics formed the largest religious group with 33,137 adherents (66.1%), followed by Evangelicals or Protestants with 8,880 adherents (17.7%), and 7,038 inhabitants (14%) indicating no religious affiliation.
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