Linares Province

Linares () is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule (VII). The provincial capital and largest city is Linares.
History.
In 1873, the province of Linares was created from the old province of Maule; it had three departments: Linares, Parral and Loncomilla.
In 1927, Linares is eliminated as a province and became part of the new province of Maule but, in 1936, Linares was made again a province. When the regions were created in 1975, the Maule region was formed with the Curicó, Linares, Maule and Talca; later, the province of Cauquenes was added.
Geography.
Linares is a landlocked province (it does not border the ocean) with an area of , the largest province in the Maule region.
The province is at the very center of mainland Chile, and its capital is at south of Santiago and south of Talca, the regional capital, in the middle of a rich agricultural area and with many vineyards.
Linares is a landlocked province (it does not border the ocean) and is bordered to the north by the Talca province, to the east by Argentina, to the south by the Ñuble province (Bío Bío region) and to the west by the Cauquenes province.
Population.
 (last national census), there were 253,990 people living in the province, giving it a population density of inhabitants/km². The urban population was 139,742 persons ( of the total).
The largest city of the province is Linares, its capital, with a population, in 2002, of 65,133 inhabitants, followed by the cities of Parral (26,397 inhabitants) and San Javier (20,524 inhabitants).
Administration.
As a province, Linares is a second-level administrative division, consisting of 8 communes ("comunas"). The city of Linares serves as the provincial capital. The province is administered by a governor.