Costa Ricaportal |
According to the Political Constitution of Costa Rica of 1949, in article 168, [1] the territorial division of Costa Rica is organized by law into three types of subnational entity:
For the purposes of the Public Administration, the national territory is divided into provinces, these in cantons and cantons in districts.
Costa Rica is divided into:
The most recent decree to this subdivision corresponds to N°41548-MGP from 28 January 2019. [2]
All entities are numbered, the provinces get 1 digit, the cantons 3 digit with the first being the number of the province, the districts get 5 digits with the first 3 being the numbers of the canton.
The district numbers are also used as postal codes.
With the establishment of the republic and the declaration of Costa Rica as "free, sovereign and independent republic," the Political Constitution of the Reformed Costa Rica of 1848 was approved on November 30 Of that year, and according to Law No. 36 of December 7 of 1848, the denominations of province, canton & district. [3] According to the aforementioned law, the following provinces were created:
This law classified Puntarenas as county , a category that is now in disuse. Legislative Decree No. 10 of September 17, 1858 gives Puntarenas the title of province.
Decree No. 27 of June 6, 1870 created the "County of Limón" from the easternmost territory of the Province of Carthage, and allowed the establishment of a town hall. It would not be until 1902, under Legislative Decree No. 59 of August 1 that it was constituted in the seventh and last of the provinces that comprise the national territory.
From 1848 to 1980 the number of cantons in the country has gone from 10 to 82. The last canton to be constituted is the Rio Cuarto ancient district of Greece province of Alajuela. The districts, on the other hand, have experienced greater flexibility in their constitution process, so their numbers are constantly changing. For example, there are now 470 districts, when in 2000, when the population census was conducted the districts were 463.
Politically and administratively, Costa Rica is made up of 7 provinces:
Provincias de Costa Rica | ||||||
Province | ISO 3166-2 [4] | Capital | Cantons | Districts | Inhabitants [5] | Area km2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San José | CR-SJ | San José | 20 | 123 | 1 404 242 | 4 965.90 |
Alajuela | CR-A | Alajuela | 15 | 116 | 848 146 | 9 757.53 |
Cartago | CR-C | Cartago | 8 | 51 | 490 903 | 3 124.67 |
Heredia | CR-H | Heredia | 10 | 47 | 433 677 | 2 656.98 |
Guanacaste | CR-G | Liberia | 11 | 61 | 326 953 | 10 140.71 |
Puntarenas | CR-P | Puntarenas | 11 | 60 | 410 929 | 11 265.69 |
Limón | CR-L | Limón | 6 | 30 | 386 862 | 9 188.52 |
TOTALS | 81 | 488 | 4 301 712 | 51 100 |
The concept of City Hall or City Council falls to the second-level sub-national entity (the cantons), governed by a mayor elected every four years in general elections, as well as a Municipal Council (Municipal regime of Costa Rica). According to the Political Constitution, article 169: [1]
"The administration of the local interests and services in each canton will be in charge of the Municipal Government, formed of a deliberative body, composed of municipal councilors of popular election, and of an executive officer who will designate the law."
Each canton is divided into districts whose number varies from canton to canton. Each district has a District Council chaired by a syndic, all popularly elected. The District Council is the interlocutor between the district and the municipal government and ensures the communal and neighborhood interests before the Municipal Council, although the direct administration of the district falls to the municipality, the District Councils also exercise administrative functions such as forwarding projects To the Council and supervise the work of the mayor.
Each district in Costa Rica has a unique five digit administrate division code that is also used as an identifier by the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica and corresponds to the postal code.
According to the Administrative Territorial Division (Spanish : División Territorial Administrativa) [2] the following subdivisions are applicable at or below canton and district level:
In Costa Rica there are 24 indigenous territories duly delimited by the central government and have limited autonomy. These territories are administered by the Associations of Indigenous Development like a local government according to Decree No. 13568-G of the Executive Power.
Puntarenas is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. As the city of the first canton of the province, it is the capital city of the Puntarenas Province as well, according to the Administrative divisions of Costa Rica.
Escazú is the second canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica.
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.
Buenos Aires is a canton in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The head city is in Buenos Aires district.
Heredia is a district in the Heredia canton of Heredia province, Costa Rica. As the seat of the municipality of Heredia canton, it is awarded the status of city, and by virtue of being the city of the first canton, it is the Province Capital of Heredia province as well. It is 10 kilometers to the north of the country's capital, San José.
Palmares is a canton in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica.
Cartago is a canton in the Cartago province of Costa Rica. The head city is Cartago.
Paraíso is a canton in the Cartago province of Costa Rica. The head city is in Paraíso district.
Aserrí is the sixth canton in the San José province of Costa Rica. The head city of the canton is the homonymous Aserrí.
Puntarenas is a canton in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The head city is Puntarenas.
Esparza is a canton in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The head city is Esparza in Espíritu Santo district.
Montes de Oro is a canton in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The head city is in Miramar district.
Corredores is a canton in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The head city is Ciudad Neily in Corredor district.
Postal codes in Costa Rica are five-digit numeric, and were introduced in March 2013, they are associated with and identify a unique district in the country. They are managed by the Correos de Costa Rica, a government-controlled institution that provides postal service in the country.
Parrita is a canton and its only district in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica’s municipal system is organized under the Municipal Code, the specific law that regulates the local governments. Municipalities are the second-level administration in Costa Rica after the central government. Each one of the 82 cantons of Costa Rica has a Municipality or Municipal Government constituted by a mayor and a proportional number of members of the Municipal Council. Districts of each of the cantons also have their local authorities and representatives. Some of the services manage by local governments include; solid waste management, building and administration of local roads, parks, libraries and schools, recollection of municipal taxes and in some cases local security. Worth noticing that in Costa Rica city and municipality are not the same thing, as a canton can have several cities within its borders, generally as districts.
According to the Territorial Administrative Division, the cantons of Costa Rica are subdivided into 492 districts (distritos), each of which has a unique five-digit postal code.
Lepanto is a district of the Puntarenas canton, in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica.
Paquera is a district of the Puntarenas canton, in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica.
Cóbano is a district of the Puntarenas canton, in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica.