Its capital is the port city of Arica.

Founded as Villa de San Marcos de Arica in 1541 on the site of a pre-Columbian settlement, it belonged to Peru until 1879, when it was captured by the Chileans, who gained control of the locality under the Treaty of Ancón (1883) According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the province spans an area of 8,726.4 km2 (3,369 sq mi) and had a population of 186,488 inhabitants (92,487 men and 94,001 women), giving it a population density of 21.4/km2 (55/sq mi).

[2] As a province, Arica is a second-level administrative division of Chile, consisting of two communes (comunas): Arica in the northern portion and Camarones in the south.

The coastal city of Arica serves as the provincial capital.

The province is administered by the presidentially appointed regional delegate of Arica y Parinacota.