Catamarca Province house in Catamarca, first with Arnoldo Castillo (1991–1999), then with his son Oscar Castillo (1999–2003), and now with the present governor, Eduardo Brizuela del Moral. The province is divided into sixteen departments (). Department (Capital) Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighboring provinces are (clockwise, from the north): Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja. To the west it borders the country of Chile. The
Catamarca Province (partly through La Rioja) to Chile by the Paso de San Francisco (4722 m), 64 west from Santiago del Estero to join 38 and 157 north from La Guardia 103 km to Frias where it connects with 89 west from Villa San Martin (Santiago del Estero), and north to Tucuman province at San Pedro, connecting with 64 near Las Cañas. There is an airport at Catamarca. Since its foundation in 1991 by the Catamarcan branch of the Radical Civic Union and minor local parties the Civic and Social Front of Catamarca has dominated state politics. It has held the governor's