Costa Rica Blog

The Province of San Jose, named after the capitol city of Costa Rica is located in the center of the country. It has a population of almost 1,5 million persons and is surrounded by the provinces Alajuela, Puntarenas, Limon, Cartago and Heredia. The northern part of the province contains the city of San Jose and the suburbs from Santa Ana and Escazu in the west to Curridabat in the east. Curious but true, San Jose was the third city in the world, after Paris and New York to have electric light. Supposedly because the famous inventor Thomas Edison had a friend in the city. Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport, located in the Alajuela Province is only 20 kilometers away. In Pavas Tobias Bolanos Airport is the hub for several local flights. The southern part of the province is protected mountainous terrain that forms the natural eastern border of the Central Valley. Parallel to this mountain ridge runs the Interamericana Highway forming a part of the border with the Province of Cartago. It crosses the pass of the Cerro de la Muerte, before heading south towards the city of San Isidro, leaving the Cordillero de Talamanca with the Cerro Chirripo (Costa Rica’s highest peak) in the east. San Isidro offers easy access to Playa Dominical on the Pacific Coast. On the west side of Cerro de la Muerte you find the Reserva Forestal Los Santos, on the east side Reserva Forestal Rio Macho, located in the Province of Cartago. Most people don’t see much of the Province of San Jose, besides the metropolitan area around Costa Rica’s capital city. More favorite destinations to explore are located in the provinces of Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago. The Interamericana Highway is the main artery for traffic towards the beaches on the Pacific Coast in the Province of Puntarenas or towards the Panamanian border.