History of Chile him to Spain. Thereafter, Pinochet returned to Chile in March 2000. Upon descending the plane on his wheelchair, he stood up and saluted the cheering crowd of supporters, including an army band playing his favorite military march tunes, which was awaiting him at the airport in Santiago. President Ricardo Lagos later commented that the retired general's televised arrival had damaged the image of Chile, while thousands demonstrated against him. The "Concertación" coalition has continued to dominate Chilean politics for last two decades. In January 2006 Chileans elected their first woman president, Michelle Bachelet, of the Socialist Party. She was sworn
Regions of Chile Regions of Chile Chile is divided into 16 regions (in Spanish, "regiones"; singular "región"), which are the country's first-level administrative division. Each region is headed by an intendant ("intendente)", appointed by the President of Chile, and a directly-elected regional board ("consejo regional"). The regions are divided into provinces (the second-level administrative division), each headed by a governor ("gobernador") appointed by the President. There are 56 provinces in total. Provinces are divided into communes (the third and lowest level administrative division), which are governed by municipal councils. Each region is given a Roman numeral, followed by a name (e.g. "IV Región