Map of Central America with Costa Rica highlighted
Costa Rica is administratively divided into seven provinces which are subdivided into 84 cantons, and these are further subdivided into districts. Cantons are the only administrative division in Costa Rica that possess local government in the form of municipalities. Each municipality has its own mayor and several representatives, all of them chosen via municipal elections every four years.
The original 14 cantons were established in 1848, and the number has risen gradually by the division of existing cantons. Law no. 4366 of 19 August 1969, which outlines the creation of administrative divisions of Costa Rica, states that new cantons may only be created if they have at least one percent of the republic's total population, which was 5,044,197 as of the latest estimate (2022).[1][2] The newest canton, Puerto Jiménez, was created on June 21, 2022, from the canton of Golfito.[3]
According to the latest population estimate from the National Institute of Statistics and Census, the largest canton by population is the capital San José with a population of 352,381, while the smallest by population is Monteverde with 5,386 residents. The same estimate listed the largest canton by land area as San Carlos, which spans 3,352.14 km2 (1,294.27 sq mi) and the smallest as Flores at 6.75 km2 (2.61 sq mi).[4]
^Comisión Nacional de División Territorial Administrativa (1980). Estudio sobre la División Territorial Administrativa de la Republica de Costa Rica [Study on the Administrative Territorial Division of the Republic of Costa Rica] (in Spanish). Costa Rica: Imprenta Nacional. §53.
^Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (July 2023). Estimación de Población y Vivienda 2022: Resultados Generales [2022 Population and Housing Estimate: General Results] (PDF) (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. ISBN 978-9930-525-75-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Costa Rica (2022-06-21). "Ley N° 10195 - Creación del Cantón de Puerto Jiménez, Cantón Décimo Tercero de la Provincia de Puntarenas" [Law № 10195 - Creation of the Canton of Puerto Jiménez, Thirteenth Canton of the Province of Puntarenas]. Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
^Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (2023). "Resultados Estimacion de Poblacion y Vivienda 2022" [2022 Population and Housing Estimate Results] (XLSX) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
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