| Aysén Province | |
| Native Name: | Provincia de Aysén |
| Native Name Lang: | es |
| Settlement Type: | Province |
| Mapsize: | 175px |
| Map Alt: | Location in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region |
| Pushpin Map: | Chile |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Location in Chile |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 175 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Chile |
| Coordinates: | -44.9167°N -108°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Chile |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Aysén |
| Parts Type: | Communes |
| Parts: | Puerto Aysén Cisnes Guaitecas |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Puerto Aysén |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Provincial |
| Leader Party: | UDI |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Manuel Ortiz Torres |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 46588.8 |
| Population Total: | 26858 |
| Population As Of: | 2012 Census |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Urban |
| Population Blank1: | 16180 |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Rural |
| Population Blank2: | 13451 |
| Timezone: | CLT[3] |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Timezone Dst: | CLST[4] |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -3 |
| Iso Code: | CL-AI |
| Area Code: | country 56 + area 67 |
| Website: | Government of Aysén |
Aysén Province (Spanish; Castilian: Provincia de Aysén) is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Aysen (XI). Its capital is Puerto Aysén.
The province had a 2002 population of 23,498 according to the census by the National Statistics Institute. Of these, 16,180 (68.9%) lived in urban areas and 13,451 (57.2%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population fell by 20.7% (persons). The census also yielded a surface area of 46588.8sqkm, the largest in the region and fifth largest province in the country, though it is the tenth least populated in the country.
As a province, Palena is a second-level administrative division, administered by a presidentially appointed governor. Manuel Ortiz Torres was appointed by president Sebastián Piñera.
The province comprises three communes, each governed by a municipality, headed by an alcalde: Aisén, Cisnes, and Guaitecas.
| Area (km2) | 2002 Population | Density (km2) | Website | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 787.0 | 1,539 | 2.0 | link | ||
| 15,831.4 | 5,739 | 0.4 | link | ||
| 29,970.4 | 22,353 | 0.7 | link |
During the 1990s, it was suggested that the name might be derived from an 1831 map made by captain Robert Fitz-Roy, who made an expedition to the coast on board the Beagle with Charles Darwin and labeled the area around modern Aisén province with the words "Ice End." This theory, however, was largely dismissed because the name "Aysen" appears in documents of the explorer Father Garcia, who made an expedition to this region in 1766, more than 60 years prior to the arrival of the Beagle. Despite this, the Fitz-Roy myth has become popular among the many European tourists who visit Patagonia each year. See Aisén (name) for more information. Many of the region's people are of British and German descent (including Sudeten Germans from present Czech Republic), although the majority of inhabitants are Chileans of mestizo Spanish origins. The province was recently developed in the early 20th century by Chilean government officials to place thousands of transplanted settlers from the Central Valley.