The province is divided into eight districts, which are: On July 23, 1610, a group of immigrants were allowed to found a village, which would serve as capital city and as headquarters for both mining and related wheat sowing activities.

Father de Asís Centurión was he who got "Santiago, El Mayor" to become the main saint of the town.

In this same year, the town was given its current and definitive name, Santiago de Chuco, by the Peruvian government.

In 1863, the congressman for Huamachuco, Don Manuel Natividad Porras, filed a bill for Provincial Status for Santiago de Chuco District.

The Bill failed to be enacted at that time due to the sudden death of Don Manuel Natividad Porras.