Alajuela Province

**Alajuela** is a province of Costa Rica. It is in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua. The provincial capital is the city of Alajuela.

## Location

The Alajuela province borders the provinces of Heredia to the east, San José to the south, Puntarenas to the southwest and Guanacaste to the west. Nicaragua is to the north of the province.

## Geography

Alajuela is the third largest province of Costa Rica, after the Puntarenas and Guanacaste provinces, with an area of .

The province is in the western part of the Central Valley and is crossed by the _Cordillera Central_ ("Central mountain range) and the volcanic _Cordillera de Guanacaste_ ("Guanacaste mountain range). In the northern part, along the border with Nicaragua, are the plains of the San Carlos and Frío rivers.

Two of the most active Costa Rican volcanoes are in this province: the Poás,  high, and the Arenal,  high.

## Demographics

The people of the province are known as _Alajuelenses_, both men and women.

The Alajuela province had a population, in 2011, of 848,146, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The canton of  Alajuela, with 254,886 inhabitants, is the canton with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Alajuela**

## Administrative divisions

The Alajuela province is divided in 15 cantons, which are divided into 113 Districts.

|No.|Canton|Capital|Districts|Population (2011) !! Area (km²) !! Density (Inh./km²)|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|Alajuela|Alajuela|14||||
|2|San Ramón|San Ramón de los Palmares|13||||
|3|Grecia|Grecia|8||||
|4|San Mateo|San Mateo de Alajuela|4||||
|5|Atenas|Atenas|8||||
|6|Naranjo|Naranjo de Alajuela|8||||
|7|Palmares|Palmares de Alajuela|7||||
|8|Poás|San Pedro de Poás|5||||
|9|Orotina|Orotina|5||||
|10|San Carlos|Ciudad Quesada|13||||
|11|Zarcero|Zarcero|7||||
|12|Valverde Vega|Sarchí|5||||
|13|Upala|Upala|8||||
|14|Los Chiles|Los Chiles|4||||
|15|Guatuso|San Rafael de Guatuso|4||||

## Economy

The main economic activity in the province is farming. In the southern part of the province, tropical ornamentals, coffee, tubers, and Leaf vegetables are the major crops. Toward the north and northeast, rice, corn, pineapple, bananas, and sugarcane are important crops.

There is also an important cattle raising industry in the province, mainly in the San Carlos canton.

Alajuela has attracted many export-orientated manufacturing companies, especially within the free trade zones around the municipality of Alajuela.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Province of Alajuela
- **native name**: Provincia de Alajuela
- **native name lang**: Spanish
- **settlement type**: Province
- **image skyline**: Alajuela likeluis.jpg
- **image alt**: Alajuela cathedral
- **image caption**: Alajuela cathedral
- **image flag**: Bandera de la Provincia de Alajuela.svg
- **image shield**: Escudo de la Provincia de Alajuela.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Alajuela in Costa Rica.svg
- **map caption**: Location of the Province of Alajuela
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Costa Rica
- **seat type**: Capital city
- **seat**: Alajuela
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 12 October 1782
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 9757.53
- **population total**: 848146
- **population as of**: 2011
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Alajuelense
- **iso code**: CR-A