With 1,861,562 inhabitants, Bío Bío is the second most populated region in the country. The capital of this 37,062.6 km2 region is the coastal city Concepción. Other large urban centers in the region include Talcahuano, Chillán, and Los Angeles. As one of Chile’s most important cultural and economic hubs, regionaleconomic activity is highly diversified and encompasses a wide range of sectors, including an efficient service platform, thriving industrial activity, vast hydroelectric generating capacity, modern infrastructure and a system of first-rate universities. Vast portions of the region are covered in Radiate pine, a commercial species reaching market size twice as fast as anywhere else thanks to a temperate climate and copious rainfall. With over 50 percent of the regional output being shipped abroad, Bío Bío is a significant exporting region. Products range from fish and shellfish to sawn lumber, plywood products, wooden moldings and trim, construction parts and accessories, wooden doors and windowsfurniture, and wood pulp. The extremely diverse regional landscape varies from rolling hills to the extensive green valleys irrigated by the vast Itata and Bío Bío rivers. A few peaks reach beyond 3,000 m in altitude, most notably Mt. Chillán and adjacent peaks. Their slopes host the Chillán hot springs and ski resorts, one of Chile’s best.