Introduction Arica-Parinacota Region Tarapacá Region Antofagasta Region Atacama Region Coquimbo Region Valparaíso Region O´Higgins Region Maule Region Bío Bío Region La Araucanía Region Los Ríos Region Los Lagos Region Aysén Region Magallanes & the Chilean Antartic Region Metropolitan Region

Capital: Concepción

Area: 37,062.6 km2

Population: 1,861,562 inhabitants (2002 Census)

Population density: 50.0 inhab/km2

Principal economic activities: Forestry, manufacturing, electricity generation and fishing.

 

The Bío-Bío Region has played a key role in Chile's history and culture. It produced some of the leaders of its struggle for independence as well as presidents, politicians and artists such as the pianist Claudio Arrau and the multifaceted Violeta Parra.

With its varied landscapes, the region stretches across rolling hills with valleys watered by the broad basins of the Itata and Bío-Bío Rivers. The main urban centers are Concepción, Talcahuano, Chillán and Los Ángeles.

Concepción, which dates back to 1550, was the first city to be founded in southern Chile and, for many years, marked the frontier of the area conquered by the Spaniards. Today, it is a dynamic industrial and retail center with 12 universities.

Chillán is an important agribusiness center and has well-developed hotel infrastructure. Over the past 25 years, Los Ángeles has experienced strong growth particularly in the retail and agribusiness sectors, with the latter reflecting the quality of its fertile soils.

Coal mining was once of basic economic importance to the towns of Lota, Coronel and Curanilahue but has declined due to low returns and the government has implemented reconversion programs. One interesting sign of what has been termed the “transition from coal to silicon” are the call and contact centers that have opened in Lota. These services --using fixed or mobile telephony, fax or Internet-- involve not only answering customer enquiries but also selling or publicizing different products. 

In Lota, tourists can visit the old El Chiflón del Diablo and Carlos mine galleries and see for themselves the conditions in which the coal miners worked. The Mining Museum also recalls this harsh life.

El Chiflón del Diablo stretches 11 kms out below the sea in total darkness. When the mine was foreign-owned, small children --the only ones that its low tunnels could accommodate-- were obliged to work there.

Many former coal miners continue to work in the mines as tourist guides.

 

The Master

The pianist Claudio Arrau (1903-1993) is buried in his native Chillán. He gave his first concert there at the age of five before going on to triumph on the world's main stages. 

The hundredth anniversary of birth was marked by ceremonies in Chillán and around the world as well as by the re-launch of his most famous recordings.

 

Coordinates and Area

The region stretches between 36°00'S and 38°30'S and from 71°00'W to the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered to the north by the Maule Region, to the east by Argentina, to the south by the Araucanía Region and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. According to the Military Geographic Institute (IGM), it has an area of 37,062.6 km2. 

 

Land formation

The region's main land formations are the coastal plains which are largest to the south of the Bío- Bío River (Arauco-Cañete, with an average width of 25 kms); the Cordillera de la Costa which, in the north, takes the form of a complex series of rolling hills separated by basins but, in the south, has the appearance of a wall; the Nahuelbuta Range; the Intermediate Depression, which is very large in the north of the region; the Andes foothills referred to as the “Mountain”; and the Andes Mountains.

  

Climate

The Bío-Bío Region has several different climates: warm temperate with similar dry and wet seasons, wet temperate and high altitude. Temperature and rainfall vary with latitude and height. 

 

Water resources

The region's rivers depend on both rainfall and snowfall and reach their lowest level between January and April. The largest are the Itata in the north and the Bío-Bío in the south. The tributaries of the Itata are the Diguillín, Larqui and Ñuble Rivers and, in the case of the Bío-Bío, the Vergara and Laja.

 

Population

According to the 2002 Census, the region had a population of 1,861,562 inhabitants of whom 915,200 were men and 946,362 were women. Its capital, Concepción, registered 216,061 inhabitants. Its population density is 50 inhabitants/km2. Between 2000 and 2005, the population expanded at an estimated mean annual rate of 0.99%. 

 

Economic sectors

The Bío-Bío Region's economy is driven by forestry, fishing and manufactured exports. In 1999, exports reached 6.4 million tonnes, worth US$2,086 million, led by wood pulp, wood, fishmeal, frozen products and steel. The region has five commercial ports with a total export throughput of 10 million tonnes in 1999. It also has five hydroelectric dams which produced 6,600 GWh, representing 18% of the country's power production.

 

Administrative divisions

REGIONAL CAPITAL	PROVINCES	MUNICIPALITIES
Concepción	Ñuble	Chillán San Carlos Ñiquén San Fabián Coihueco Pinto San Ignacio El Carmen Yungay Pemuco Bulnes Quillón Ranquil Portezuelo Coelemu Treguaco Cobquecura Quirihue Ninhue San Nicolás Chillán Viejo
	Bío Bío	Los Ángeles Alto Bío Bío Cabrero Tucapel Antuco Quilleco Santa Bárbara Quilaco Mulchén Negrete Nacimiento Laja San Rosendo Yumbel
	Concepción	Concepción Talcahuano Penco Tomé Florida Hualqui Santa Juana Lota Coronel San Pedro de la Paz Chiguayante Hualpén
	Arauco	Lebu Arauco Curanilahue Los Álamos Cañete Contulmo Tirúa

Foreign Direct Investment DL 600 Statistics in Bío Bío Region (1974 - 2008), (Excel, 43 Kb.)