Alajuela Province

BET Costa Rica

Alajuela is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua to the north, and clockwise the provinces Heredia, San José, Puntarenas and Guanacaste. The capital is Alajuela. The province covers an area of 9,757.53 km² (1), and has a population of 767,143 (2). It is subdivided into 15 cantons.

Canton (Capital):

  1. Alajuela
  2. San Ramón
  3. Grecia
  4. San Mateo
  5. Atenas
  6. Naranjo
  7. Palmares
  8. Poás
  9. Orotina
  10. San Carlos
  11. Alfaro Ruiz
  12. Valverde Vega
  13. Upala
  14. Los Chiles
  15. Guatuso


Contents

Home of Santamaría

Alajuela is famous as the home of the Costa Rican national hero Juan Santamaría. Santamaría (nicknamed El Erizo ("The Hedgehog") was a peasant boy who became the national hero during the Campaign of 1856-1857 when Costa Rica defeated the army of the North-American filibusterer William Walker.

Football (Soccer)

Alajuela is the home of one of Costa Rica's two most successful football clubs, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

Provinces of Costa Rica

Alajuela · Cartago · Guanacaste · Heredia · Limón · Puntarenas · San José

References

(1) Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), 2001.

(2) Estimates of Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC), May 2003.

External links

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