 Provinces of Costa Rica |
Primary subdivisions:
Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces (provinces).
| Province | HASC | ISO | FIPS | Code | Population | Area(km.²) | Area(mi.²) | Capital |
|---|
| Alajuela | CR.AL | A | CS01 | 20000 | 716,286 | 9,754 | 3,766 | Alajuela |
| Cartago | CR.CA | C | CS02 | 30000 | 432,395 | 3,125 | 1,206 | Cartago |
| Guanacaste | CR.GU | G | CS03 | 50000 | 264,238 | 10,141 | 3,915 | Liberia |
| Heredia | CR.HE | H | CS04 | 40000 | 354,732 | 2,657 | 1,026 | Heredia |
| Limón
| CR.LI | L | CS06 | 70000 | 339,295 | 9,189 | 3,548 | Puerto Limón |
| Puntarenas
| CR.PU | P | CS07 | 60000 | 357,483 | 11,266 | 4,350 | Puntarenas |
| San José
| CR.SJ | SJ | CS08 | 10000 | 1,345,750 | 4,960 | 1,915 | San José |
| 7 provinces | 3,810,179 | 51,090 | 19,726 | |
- HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision code.
- ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2.
- FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
- Code: INEC province code.
- Population: 2000-06-26 census.
- Cantons: Number of cantons in province.
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The National Institute of Statistics and Census (Instituto Nacional
de Estadística y Censos) has defined a hierarchical code
for the administrative divisions of Costa Rica.
Each municipality has a distinct five-digit code.
The first digit represents a province (note: not region),
and the province code is that digit followed by four zeros. Likewise, the first three digits of the
municipality code represent a canton, and the canton code ends in two zeros.
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| Postal Codes |
Postal codes:
Costa Rica uses four-digit postal codes. They don't correlate well with the provinces.
Further subdivisions:
The provinces are subdivided into cantons, which in turn are subdivided into districts.
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| Regions Costa Rica |
Costa Rica is also divided into six regions. I haven't been able to
find a direct explanation for the coexistence of regions and
provinces. It appears that the provinces are the primary units of local
government. The regions seem to be used for certain
statistical reports, such as public health. Some region names derive
from precolumbian ethnic groups. The regional division listed
below comes from the
Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce. According to
the MEIC page, this regionalization of Costa Rica was created by Decree
No. 16068, Plan of February 15, 1985. Other sources have
slightly different lists of regions. Central is sometimes subdivided
into Central Norte, Central Occidental, Central Oriental, and
Central Sur.
| Region | Population | Area(km.²) | Area(mi.²) | Provinces |
|---|
| Brunca | 320,863 | 9,528 | 3,679 | parts of P and SJ |
| Central | 2,064,068 | 10,669 | 4,119 | C and parts of A, H, and SJ |
| Chorotega | 251,241 | 10,141 | 3,915 | G and part of A |
| Huetar Atlántica | 294,380 | 9,189 | 3,548 | L and part of H |
| Huetar Norte | 164,092 | 7,663 | 2,959 | parts of A and H |
| Pacífico Central | 176,056 | 3,911 | 1,510 | part of P |
| Total | 3,270,700 | 51,101 | 19,730 | |
- Population: July, 1997 estimates.
- Provinces: Provinces corresponding to the region's territory,
denoted by their ISO codes.
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Territorial extent:
- Costa Rica owns Isla del Coco in the Pacific Ocean.
- Puntarenas includes the southeastern part of Península de Nicoya; Isla Chira and other islands in the Gulf of Nicoya; and Isla
del Caño.
Change history:
~1990: Name of the capital of Limón changed from Limón to Puerto Limón
Other names of subdivisions:
Brunca: Pacífico Sur (variant)
* Province populations from the 2000 census of Costa Rica.
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| Division Territorial |
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Costa Rica Administrativamente está divida en 81 cantones y 449 distritos los cuales
se encuentran repartidos en las 7 provinces que conforman nuestro país, todos estos
datos son Oficiales dado que fueron tomados de la División Territorial Administrativa del
año 1997, la cual fue elaborada por el Instituto Geográfico Nacional de Costa Rica.
- DISTRIBUCIÓN DE CANTONES Y DISTRITOS POR provinces:
| Provincia | N° de Cantones | N° de Distritos | Área en Km2 | Población (*) |
| San José | 20 | 116 | 4965.90 | 1 345 750 |
|---|
| Alajuela | 15 | 107 | 9757.53 | 716 286 |
|---|
| Cartago | 8 | 48 | 3124.67 | 432 395 |
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| Heredia | 10 | 43 | 2656.98 | 354 732 |
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| Guanacaste | 11 | 56 | 10140.71 | 264 238 |
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| Puntarenas | 11 | 52 | 11265.69 | 357 483 |
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| Limón | 6 | 27 | 9188.52 | 339 295 |
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| Total | 81 | 449 | 51.100
| 3 810 179
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(*) Datos de
población a Agosto de 2001, suministrados por el INEC.
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