Cartago is a

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

in the Cartago province 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 ...

, with an estimated population of 165,417 as of 2022. It ranks as the fifth-most populous canton in the country and is the 42nd largest by area. Cartago is bordered by

Desamparados Desamparados is a district of the Desamparados canton, in the San José province 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 th ...

and

El Guarco El Guarco was a Costa Rican Indigenous king, at the time of the Spanish conquest. Its name is preserved in the eastern sector of the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where the city of Cartago is located, in the El Guarco canton in the Cartago Prov ...

to the south, Goicoechea and

Vázquez de Coronado Vásquez is a surname of Galician origin, which later spread all over the Spanish-speaking world. Alternative spellings of the name include Vázquez or Vasques (particularly in regions with seseo), and Vasquez or Vazquez (in countries where Iberi ...

to the north, Oreamuno and Paraíso to the east, and Montes de Oca, La Unión, and Desamparados to the west. The administrative and historical center of the canton is the City of Cartago, which comprises the

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

and

Occidental Occidental may refer to: * Occident (of or pertaining to) * Western world (of or pertaining to) Places *Occidental, California, a town in Sonoma County, California, US * Occidental Park, Seattle, Washington, US Other uses * Interlingue, a const ...

districts, rather than being a single district. Founded in 1563 by Spanish conqueror Juan Vásquez de Coronado, Cartago is the second-oldest surviving city in Costa Rica, after Espíritu Santo de Esparza, which was established in 1557. It served as the colonial capital of Costa Rica from 1563 until 1823, after the

Ochomogo War The Ochomogo War was a civil war fought in Costa Rica, the first in its history, and was fought shortly after the country became independent from Spain. The most important event was the Battle of Ochomogo (5 April 1823) which was fought on Oc ...

. Following the amendments to the Constitution of 1847, the canton itself was officially established as a municipal administrative division on 7 December 1848 by law N° 36.

History

Geography

Cartago covers an area of 278.66 km² (107.59 sq mi) and has a mean elevation of 1,575 m (5,167 ft). The canton is shaped like a T, extending southeast from its capital city to encompass a narrow strip of the

Cordillera de Talamanca The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two ...

(Talamanca Mountain Range). This geographic configuration includes portions of the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

, making Cartago an important transit hub. The varied elevation and diverse landscapes contribute to the canton's natural diversity, which includes valleys, mountains, and fertile plains ideal for agriculture.

Government

Mayor

Under the Municipal Code of 1998, which regulates

local government in Costa Rica Costa Rica’s municipal system is organized under the Municipal Code, the specific law that regulates the local governments. Municipalities are the Administrative divisions of Costa Rica, second-level administration in Costa Rica after the central ...

, mayors and vice mayors are democratically elected every four years on a joint ticket by the canton's residents. Following the 2024 municipal elections, Mario Redondo Poveda was re-elected as mayor of Cartago, securing 43.51% of the vote. He was joined by Silvia María Navarro Gómez as first vice mayor and Marco Andrés Brenes Tinoco as second vice mayor, all serving for the term from 2024 to 2028.

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, all members of the Municipal Council (known as ''regidores'') are elected every four years through a

closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

system, though on a separate ballot from the canton's executive officials. The Cartago Municipal Council consists of nine seats, held by

regidores A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipal ...

and their substitutes. Substitutes can participate in meetings but do not have voting rights unless the primary regidor (''regidor propietario'') is absent. The current president of the Municipal Council is Alonso Picado Chacón, a member of the ''Partido Actuemos Ya'' (Let's Act Now Party). The council's composition for the 2024–2028 term is as follows:

Districts

The canton of Cartago 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 ...

: #

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

# San Nicolás # Aguacaliente # Guadalupe #

Corralillo Corralillo is a municipality and town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1831 and established as a municipality in 1879. Geography Corralillo is located on the northern coast of Cuba, in the north-western corner of the Villa ...

# Tierra Blanca #

Dulce Nombre Dulce Nombre () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most i ...

# Llano Grande # Quebradilla

Demographics

Cartago had a population of inhabitants in 2022, up from people at the time of the 2011 census. In 2022, Cartago had 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 ...

of 0.791, the 3rd highest in its province, behind

and La Unión, and 18th in the country.

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.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Cantons of Cartago Province Populated places in Cartago Province