THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILEAN PROVINCES CHILEAN PROVINCES: A CLASSIFICATION BASED ON PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

Abstract

The level of socio-economic development is measured in a single index for each province of Chile, condensing information from thirty-one variables, using principal component analysis. The provinces are then classified according to their level of development and population. The classification method consists of successively grouping the most similar provinces. Four main groups of provinces are recognized: (1) Santiago, (2) Valparaíso and Concepción, (3) the northern and extreme southern provinces, and (4) the rural provinces of central and southern Chile. The classification method can be used with more than two variables and will also group small areas to form regions if required.