MAULE, a province of central Chile, bounded on the north by Talca, on the east by Argentina, on the south by Nuble and Concepcion and on the west by the Pacific. Pop. (1930) was area, before the annexation of Linares in 1928, 5,685 sq. miles. The western part of Maule is traversed from north to south by the coast range. The climate is mild and healthy. Agriculture and stock-raising are the principal occupations, and hides, cattle, wheat and wines are exported. Transport facilities are afforded by the Maule, which is navigable for shallow draught barges, and by a branch of the Government railway from Cauquenes to Parral. The provincial capital, Linares (Pop. [1930] 15,074), is centrally situated. Cauquenes, the former capital, is situated on the eastern slopes of the coast cordilleras and had a population in 1930 of 12,007. The town and port of ConstituciOn (Pop. [1930] 8,379) is situated on the south bank of the Maule,
one mile above its mouth. There is a dangerous bar at the mouth of the river, but ConstituciOn is connected with Talca by rail and has a considerable trade.
The Maule river, from which the province takes its name, is of historic interest because it is said to have marked the southern limits of the Inca empire. It rises in the Laguna del Maule, an Andean lake near the Argentine frontier, 7,218 ft. above sea-level, and flows westward about 140 m. to the Pacific. The upper part of its drainage basin contains the volcanoes of San Pedro (11,800 ft.), the Descabezado (12,795 ft.), and others of the same group of lower elevations. The upper course and tributaries of the Maule, principally in the Provinces of Linares, are largely used for irrigation.