# Desamparados (canton)

Desamparados is the 3rd canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 118.89 km$^2$ (45.90 sq mi), and had a population of 223,226 in 2022, making it the third most populated among the 81 cantons of Costa Rica. The canton's capital city is also called Desamparados.
The canton begins in the southern suburbs of the national capital city of San José, with the Tiribí River marking its northern boundary. It snakes its way south as a backward letter S, finally reaching its southern limit at the Tarrazú River. It contains the bigger of the last forest lungs in the Greater Metropolitan Area, the Loma Salitral, which conservation issues have generated social conflicts between community environmentalists and immobility developers, as it is seen as an identity mark of the desamparadeño people and a vital infiltration area to prevent the frequents and disastrous floods in the district of Gravilias.
Urban areas claim 80.4% of the canton's population. Those under age 10 comprise 19.8% of its inhabitants, while 5.1% are over 65.

## History

The canton was established by a legislative decree of November 4, 1862.

## Government
### Mayor

According to Costa Rica's Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton. As of the latest municipal elections in 2024, the National Liberation Party candidate, María Antonieta Naranjo Brenes, was elected mayor of the canton with 26.38% of the votes, with Carlos Alberto Padilla Corella and Kenneth Alexander Cubillo Vargas as first and second vice mayors, respectively.
Mayors since the 2002 elections :
| Period | Name | Party |
| 2002–2006 | Carlos Alberto Padilla Corella | PLN |
| 2006–2010 | Maureen Fallas Fallas | PLN |
| 2010–2016 | Maureen Fallas Fallas | PLN |
| 2016–2020 | Gilbert Adolfo Jiménez Siles | PLN |
| 2020–2024 | Gilbert Adolfo Jiménez Siles | PLN |
| 2024–2028 | María Antonieta Naranjo Brenes | PLN |

### Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Desamparados' Municipal Council has 11 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor (regidor propietario) is absent. The current president of the Municipal Council is the regidor for Social Christian Unity Party, María Isabel Llamas Echeverría, with the regidor for Our Town Party, Luis José Flores Jiménez, as vice president. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024-2028 period is as follows:
Current composition of the Municipal Council of Desamparados after the 2024 municipal elections :
| Political parties in the Municipal Council of Desamparados ||||||
| Political party | Political party | Political party | Regidores | Regidores | Regidores |
| Political party | Political party | Political party | № | Owner | Substitute |
| | National Liberation Party (PLN) | | 3 | Gabriel Gustavo Picado Oviedo | Vinicio Alberto Valverde Chacón |
| | National Liberation Party (PLN) | | 3 | Karla Vanessa Mora Rodríguez | Zaira Elena Romero Fallas |
| | National Liberation Party (PLN) | | 3 | Juan Chacón Castillo | Manuel Araya Badilla |
| | Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) | | 2 | Jonatan Mauricio Chavarría Sibaja | Randall Sibaja Miranda |
| | Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) | | 2 | María Isabel Llamas Echeverría$^{(P)}$ | Carmen Martínez Jackson |
| | Social Democratic Progress Party (PSD) | | 1 | Ricardo Antonio Arce Díaz | William Solera Alfaro |
| | Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) | | 1 | Luis Guillermo Gómez Godínez | Javier Umaña Valenciano |
| | Our Town Party (PNP) | | 1 | Luis José Flores Jiménez$^{(VP)}$ | Adrián Eduardo Monge Monge |
| | New Republic Party (PNR) | | 1 | Cristian Arturo Chacón Ureña | Walter Jesús Garro Araya |
| | Broad Front (FA) | | 1 | Eduardo Guillén Gardela | Mario Esteban Raitt Núñez |
| | Costa Rican Communal Ecological Party (PAEC) | | 1 | Jesús Rodríguez Gutiérrez | José Marcial Rodríguez Carvajal |

## Districts

The canton of Desamparados is subdivided into 13 districts:
* Desamparados
* San Miguel
* San Juan de Dios
* San Rafael Arriba
* San Antonio
* Frailes
* Patarrá
* San Cristóbal
* Rosario
* Damas
* San Rafael Abajo
* Gravilias
* Los Guido

## Sports

The football soccer club Orión F.C. plays here.

## Demographics

Desamparados had a population of 223,226 in 2022, the third highest in the country and up from 208,411 in the 2011 census.
According to a publication by the United Nations Development Programme, Desamparados has a Human Development Index score of 0.743, ranking it 13th in its province.

## Transportation
### Road transportation

The following road routes cover the canton:
* National Route 105
* National Route 175
* National Route 206
* National Route 207
* National Route 209
* National Route 210
* National Route 212
* National Route 213
* National Route 214
* National Route 217
* National Route 222
* National Route 226
* National Route 304
* National Route 406
* National Route 409

## Notable people

* Máximo Fernández Alvarado
* Joel Campbell
* Roy Miller
* Laura Chinchilla
* Jorge Alejandro Castro