Guanacaste Province

**Guanacaste** is a province of Costa Rica. It is in the northwestern part of the country, bordering Nicaragua. The provincial capital is the city of Liberia.

## Name

The province is named for the guanacaste tree, also known as the ear pod tree, which is the national tree of Costa Rica.

## Location

The Guanacaste province borders the provinces of Alajuela to the east,and  Puntarenas to the southeast and southwest. The Pacific Ocean is to the south and to the west, and Nicaragua is to the north of the province.

## Geography

Guanacaste is the second largest province of Costa Rica, after the Puntarenas province, with an area of .

The province is in the northwest of Costa Rica, along the Pacific Ocean. Most of the territory of the province is flat or with low hills. The _Cordillera de Guanacaste_ ("Guanacaste mountain range") is on the border with the Alajuela; in this range are four important volcanos:
1. _Miravalles_,  high;
1. _Tenorio_,  high;
1. _Rincón de la Vieja_, an active volcano,  high; and
1. _Orosí_, an inactive volcano,  high.

## Demographics

The people of the province are known as _Guanacastecos_ (women: _Guanacastecas_.

The Guanacaste province had a population, in 2011, of 326,953 for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>, the province with the lower density. The canton of Liberia, with 62,987 inhabitants, is the canton with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Guanacaste**

## Administrative divisions

The Guanacaste province is divided in 11 cantons, which are divided into 59 Districts.

|No.|Canton|Capital|Districts|Population (2011) !! Area (km²) !! Density (Inh./km²)|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|Liberia|Liberia|5||||
|2|Nicoya|Nicoya|7||||
|3|Santa Cruz|Santa Cruz|9||||
|4|Bagaces|Bagaces|4||||
|5|Carrillo|Filadelfia de Guanacaste|4||||
|6|Cañas|Cañas|5||||
|7|Abangares|Las Juntas|4||||
|8|Tilarán|Tilarán|7||||
|9|Nandayure|Carmona|5||||
|10|La Cruz|La Cruz de Guanacaste|4||||
|11|Hojancha|Hojancha|4||||

## Economy

The main economic activity in the province is farming, mainly cattle raising. Important crops in the province are cotton, sugarcane and rice. Today Guanacaste has become one of the most touristic provinces in Costa Rica, thanks to the Guanacaste International Airport, which offers flights to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Tourism has reactivated the Guanacaste economy and exerting a change towards this new dynamic economy. Tourists choose Guanacaste for the combination of beaches as _Playas del Coco_ and _Playa Tamarindo_, and the sunny dry season that coincides with the winter months in northern latitudes, its beautiful and exotic beaches, world-class sport fishing in the Gulf of Papagayo, luxurious hotels and basic services.

Many tourists also visit the national parks in the province. Santa Rosa National Park, Palo verde and Rincon de la Vieja are most visited places.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Province of Guanacaste
- **native name**: Provincia de Guanacaste
- **native name lang**: Spanish
- **settlement type**: Province
- **image skyline**: Pampa Guanacasteca.JPG
- **image alt**: Landscape of Guanacaste
- **image caption**: Landscape of Guanacaste
- **image flag**: Bandera de la Provincia de Guanacaste.svg
- **image shield**: Escudo de la Provincia de Guanacaste.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Guanacaste in Costa Rica.svg
- **map caption**: Location of the Province of Guanacaste
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Costa Rica
- **seat type**: Capital city
- **seat**: Liberia, Costa Rica, Liberia
- **established title**: Founded
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 10140.71
- **population total**: 326953
- **population as of**: 2011
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Guanacasteco
- **iso code**: CR-G