A town is defined by Chile's National Statistics Institute (INE) as an urban entityAn "urban entity" is defined by Chile's National Statistics Institute as a concentrated group of dwellings with over 2,000 inhabitants, or between 1,001 and 2,000 inhabitants if 50% or more of its population is economically active, dedicated to secondary and/or tertiary activities. Exceptionally, populated centers dedicated to tourism and recreation with over 250 concentrated dwellings and that do not meet the population requirement are considered urban. possessing between 2,001 and 5,000 inhabitants—or between 1,001 and 2,000 inhabitants if 50% or more of its population is economically active in secondary and/or tertiary activities. This list is based on a June 2005 report by the INE based on the 2002 census, which registered 274 towns across the country, however only 269 of them are shown here. (Note: The higher number is based on the number given in the regional summary provided by the INE report. The lower number is based on a manual count of the report. The discrepancies are found in the Valparaíso Region (report: 31 / manual count: 28), the O'Higgins Region (report: 39 / manual count: 38) and the Los Ríos and Los Lagos Region combined (report: 31 / manual count: 30).)Chile: Ciudades, Pueblos, Aldeas y Caseríos 2005, Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas - June 2005.
