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Antártica Chilena Province is a province of Chile in the southernmost region, Magallanes, being one of four provinces in that region. The capital is Puerto Williams. The province is about 1 250 000 km² in area, which makes it almost twice as large as all other provinces of Chile combined. The province is divided into two municipalities (comunas): comuna de Cabo de Hornos (formerly Navarino, capital Puerto Williams), area 14 146 km2, population as of census 2002: 2 262, of which 1 952 are in the capital comuna de la Antártica (capital Puerto Covadonga, which is the civilian name for the Base General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme, the main Antarctic base of Chile), area 1 236 000 km2, population: see below Only the "comuna de Cabo de Hornos", consisting of a few islands in the North of province, North of the Drake Strait, South of Tierra del Fuego, including the island of Navarino where the provincial capital Puerto Williams is located on the Beagle Channel 15 km across from Ushuaia, is undisputedly recognised as part of Chile.The "comuna de la Antártica", which encompasses most of the area of the province, is disputed, as it forms the Chilean sector of Antarctica, stretching to the South Pole, which is generally unrecognised as part of Chile, being subject to the Antarctic Treaty. It is practically uninhabited except for research stations of various countries, although Chile attempts to give the appearance of permanent habitation at Villa Las Estrellas (near Base General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme), by the presence of women and children, a small school, and even a bank, in order to support its territorial claim of the area. The official population figure for the area as of the census 2002 is given as 130 (115 male, 15 female). This does not include the staff of non-Chilean bases in the area.




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