| The smaller administrative unit of Costa Rica is the district; the intermediate one is the cantón and greater the province, whose limits were practically defined from the time of the colony. Costa Rica administratively is divided in 7 provinces, 81 cantones and 411 districts.
The provinces are the following ones: San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Puntarenas, Guanacaste and LimónThe I region: Central, includes cantones of the province of San José (Central, Escazú, Desamparados, Puriscal, Tarrazú, Aserrí, Mora, Goicoechea, Santa Ana, Alajuelita, Coronado, Acosta, Tibás, Moravia, Mounts of Oca, Dota, Curridabat and León Cortés), of the province of Alajuela (Central, except the district of San Isidro of Peñas Blancas, Grecia, Atenas, Naranjo, Palmares, Poás, Alfaro Ruiz and Valverde Vega), of the province of Cartago (Central, Paraíso, the Union, Jiménez, Turrialba, Alvarado, Oreamuno and the Guarco) and of the province of Heredia (Central, Barva, Santo Domingo, Santa Barbara, San Rafael, San Isidro, Belén, Flores and San Pablo).
In January of 1978, with the purpose of planning the masterful lines of the socioeconomic development of the country, the government divided to the national territory in six regions and a metropolitan area, structured around the capital, San José.
The I region: Central, includes cantones of the province of San José (Central, Escazú, Desamparados, Puriscal, Tarrazú, Aserrí, Mora, Goicoechea, Santa Ana, Alajuelita, Coronado, Acosta, Tibás, Moravia, Mounts of Oca, Dota, Curridabat and León Cortés), of the province of Alajuela (Central, except the district of San Isidro of Peñas Blancas, Grecia, Atenas, Naranjo, Palmares, Poás, Alfaro Ruiz and Valverde Vega), of the province of Cartago (Central, Paraíso, the Union, Jiménez, Turrialba, Alvarado, Oreamuno and the Guarco) and of the province of Heredia (Central, Barva, Santo Domingo, Santa Barbara, San Rafael, San Isidro, Belén, Flores and San Pablo).
The II region: North Pacific is composed by the cantones of Liberia, Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Bagaces, Carrillo, Cañas, Abangares, Tilarán, Nandayure, Cruz and Hojancha, of the province of Guanacaste.
The III region: Pacific Center includes the cantones of Puntarenas, Esparza, Mounts of Oro, Aguirre, Parrita, Turrubares, San Mateo and Orotina.
The IV region: South Pacific groups the cantones of Perez Zeledón, Buenos Aires, Osa, Golfito, Coto Brus and Corredores.
The V region: North is integrated by the cantones of San Carlos, Upala, the Chiles, Guatuso, Sarapiquí (except the district of Horquetas) and the Sarapiquí districts, of Alajuela, San Isidro de Peñas Blancas, of San Ramon, and Río Cuarto of Grecia.
The VI region: Atlantic it includes the cantones of Limón, Pococí, Siquirres, Talamanca, Matina and Guácimo, along with a district of Horquetas, Sarapiquí.
The metropolitan area extends around the capital and groups the cantones and the districts more populated in the country: 27.3 % of the Costa Rican population. It is composed by the following cantones of the province of San José: Central, Escazú, Desamparados (except the districts of Frailes, San Cristóbal, North and Rosario), Aserrí (first district), Goicoechea (except the district of Rancho Redondo), Alajuelita, Coronado, Tibás, Moravia (except the district of San Jerónimo), Mounts of Oca and Curridabat. Altogether, the area occupies 180 km2, scene of an apparently unstoppable urban concentration phenomenon: it's calculated that the gathering will have, in 2000, a population superior to 3.810.179 inhabitants.
This division in great regions is aimed at rationalizing the availability of power resources and raw materials, to organize around them a policy of diversification of the national production.
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