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/km2. 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.

Gallery

References