# Cartago (canton)

Cartago is a canton in the Cartago province of Costa Rica. The head city is Cartago.

## History

Cartago was created on 7 December 1848 by decree 167.

## Geography

Cartago has an area of 278.66 km$^2$ (107.59 sq mi) and a mean elevation of 1,575 m (5,167 ft).
Cartago is a T-shaped canton stretching southeast from its capital city to encompass a thin swatch of the Cordillera de Talamanca (Talamanca Mountain Range), and including portions of the Pan-American Highway.

## 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 Let's Act Now Party (Partido Actuemos Ya) candidate, Mario Redondo Poveda, was elected mayor of the canton with 43.51% of the votes, with Silvia María Navarro Gómez and Marco Andrés Brenes Tinoco as first and second vice mayors, respectively.
Mayors of Cartago since the 2002 elections :
| Period | Name | Party |
| 2002–2006 | Harold Humberto Góngora Fuentes | PUSC |
| 2006–2010 | Rolando Alberto Rodríguez Brenes | PLN |
| 2010–2016 | Rolando Alberto Rodríguez Brenes | PLN |
| 2016–2020 | Rolando Alberto Rodríguez Brenes | PLN |
| 2020–2024 | Mario Redondo Poveda | ADC |
| 2024–2028 | Mario Redondo Poveda | PAY |

### Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Cartago's Municipal Council has 9 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 Let's Act Now Party member, Alonso Picado Chacón. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024–2028 period is as follows:
Current composition of the Municipal Council of Cartago after the 2024 municipal elections :
| Political parties in the Municipal Council of Cartago ||||||
| Political party | Political party | Political party | Regidores | Regidores | Regidores |
| Political party | Political party | Political party | № | Owner | Substitute |
| | Let's Act Now Party (PAY) | | 4 | Alonso Picado Chacón$^{(P)}$ | Roberto Carlos Solano Ortega |
| | Let's Act Now Party (PAY) | | 4 | Franci Noheli Camacho Vargas | Mónica Machado Barquero |
| | Let's Act Now Party (PAY) | | 4 | Andrés Damián Zúñiga Orozco | Jorge Armando Brenes Calderón |
| | Let's Act Now Party (PAY) | | 4 | Grettel Quesada Moya | Natalia Isabel Serrano Redondo |
| | National Liberation Party (PLN) | | 3 | Jonathan Arce Moya | Braulio José Martínez Rojas |
| | National Liberation Party (PLN) | | 3 | Marcela Quesada Cerdas | Stephannie Melissa Meneses Quirós |
| | National Liberation Party (PLN) | | 3 | Caleb Andrés Pichardo Aguilar | Luis Martín Martínez Rojas |
| | National Democratic Agenda (ADN) | | 1 | Marvin Alvarado Méndez | Manuel Enrique González Espinoza |
| | Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) | | 1 | Alberto Acevedo Gutiérrez | Armando José Canno Díaz |

## Districts

The canton of Cartago is subdivided into the following districts:
* Oriental
* Occidental
* Carmen
* San Nicolás
* Aguacaliente
* Guadalupe
* Corralillo
* Tierra Blanca
* Dulce Nombre
* Llano Grande
* Quebradilla

## Demographics

Cartago had a population of 165,417 inhabitants in 2022, up from 147,898 people at the time of the 2011 census.
In 2022, Cartago had a Human Development Index of 0.791, the 3rd highest in its province, behind El Guarco and La Unión, and 18th in the country.

## Transportation
### Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes:
* National Route 2
* National Route 10
* National Route 206
* National Route 218
* National Route 219
* National Route 222
* National Route 228
* National Route 231
* National Route 233
* National Route 236
* National Route 304
* National Route 401
* National Route 405
* National Route 406
* National Route 407

### Rail transportation

The Interurbano Line operated by Incofer goes through this canton.