Lably
Skip to content

Communes of Chile

Smallest administrative subdivision in Chile

  • 1 min read
  • 1 chapter

Related on Lably

Through City, Town and Village

The term "commune" is ambiguous in English, but the word is commonly used in translation for "comuna", although with some controversy among translators. A comuna is similar to a "county" in Anglo-American usage and practice, and may be more universally understood as a "municipality".

Each commune or municipality is governed by a directly elected body known as a municipal council (concejo municipal) consisting of a mayor (alcalde) and a group of councillors (concejales), for a period of four years. The communal civil service administration is known as the municipality (municipalidad) and is headquartered at the mayor's office (alcaldía). According to Chilean law, a single municipality may administer one or more communes, though currently, the only such case is the municipality of Cabo de Hornos, which administers the communes of Antártica and Cabo de Hornos.

Chile's 346 communes are grouped into 56 provinces (provincia, pl. provincias), which are themselves grouped into 16 regions (región, pl. regiones).

List

The following table lists all Chilean communes in alphabetical order, along with a complete list of administrative divisions at all levels. Each commune's population as of the 2024 census is given along with the area and population density.

More in Cities