Goicoechea is a
canton in the
San José province
San José () is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the central part of the country, and borders (clockwise beginning in the north) the provinces of Alajuela, Heredia, Limón, Cartago and Puntarenas. The provincial and national capi ...
of
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
.
History
Goicoechea was created on 6 August 1891 by decree 66.
Government
Mayor
According to Costa Rica's
Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton.
As of the latest
municipal elections in 2024, the
National Liberation Party candidate, Fernando Miguel Chavarría Quirós, was elected mayor of the canton with 25.34% of the votes, with Reina Irene Campos Jiménez and Valeria Fernández Castillo as first and second vice mayors, respectively.
Municipal Council
Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called ) are elected every four years. Goicoechea's Municipal Council has 9 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor () is absent.
The current president of the Municipal Council is
Broad Front member Gloriana Diorela Carmona Seravalli, with
Social Christian Unity Party
The Social Christian Unity Party () is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica.
PUSC considers itself a Christian-democratic party and, as such, is a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of America (ODCA). It was founded in 1983 by ...
member Carlos Luis Murillo Rodríguez as vice president.
The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024-2028 period is as follows:
Geography
Goicoechea has an area of
and a mean elevation of .
The elongated canton curves its way through the suburban areas just north of
San José, climbing steadily into the (Central Mountain Range) until it reaches it eastern limit between the Durazno River (on its northern boundary) and the Tiribí River (on the south).
Districts
The canton of Goicoechea is subdivided into the following
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
:
#
Guadalupe
#
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
#
Calle Blancos
#
Mata de Plátano
#
Ipís
#
Rancho Redondo
#
Purral
Demographics
Goicoechea was estimated to have a population of in 2022, up from at the time of the
2011 census.
According to a publication by the
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...
, Goicoechea has a
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...
score of , ranking it 10th in its province.
Transportation
Road transportation
The canton is covered by the following road routes:
Rail transportation
The
Interurbano Line operated by
Incofer
Rail transport in Costa Rica is primarily under the stewardship of Incofer (Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles), an autonomous institution of the state. Incofer owns the national railway infrastructure and operates virtually all freigh ...
goes through this canton.
References
{{Provinces of Costa Rica
Cantons of San José Province
Populated places in San José Province
1891 establishments in Costa Rica
Populated places established in 1891