The Cordillera Central is a volcanic

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in central

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

which continues from the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

to east of

Cordillera de Tilarán Costa Rica is located on the Central American Isthmus, surrounding the point 10° north of the equator and 84° west of the prime meridian. It has 212 km of Caribbean Sea coastline and 1,016 on the North Pacific Ocean. The area is 51,100& ...

. It extends 80 km from Tapezco Pass to the

Turrialba Volcano Turrialba Volcano is an active volcano in central Costa Rica that has been explosively eruptive in recent years including 2016 and in January, March and April 2017. Visitors used to be able to hike down into the main crater, but increased volc ...

and ending on the

Pacuare River The Pacuare River, or the Río Pacuare, in Costa Rica has its source in the Cordillera de Talamanca and flows approximately to the Caribbean. It is a popular location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and riverboarding. The rain ...

. It is separated from

by Balsa River and Platanar and Zarcero hills. The Cordillera Central is part of the

American Cordillera The American Cordillera is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America and South America, with Aconcagua as the h ...

, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. It contains four large volcanoes Poás (2,708 m),

Barva Barva is a district of the Barva canton, in the Heredia province of Costa Rica. The city is known for having a nice mix of rural and metropolitan landscape. Toponymy The name comes from Barvac or Barvak a cacique of the area around 1569, which ...

(2,906 m), Irazú and Turrialba (3,340 m). The highest peak is Irazú at 3,432 m. South of the range lie elevated plains of central tectonic depression of

Costa Rican Central Valley The Central Valley () is a plateau and a geographic region of central Costa Rica. The land in the valley is a relative plain, despite being surrounded by several mountains and volcanoes, the latter part of the Central Range. The region houses al ...

. Cordillera Central's four main volcanoes are protected as

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

. Volcanic massif of the Poás Volcano is the central feature of

Poás Volcano National Park Poás Volcano National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Volcán Poás) is a national park in Costa Rica that covers an area of approximately ; the summit is . It was established on 25 January 1971. Depending on conditions, visitors can walk all the way ...

, featuring permanent

fumarolic A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volc ...

activity. Barva Volcano features prominent

hydrothermal Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water (Ancient Greek ὕδωρ, ''water'',Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with th ...

activity (hot springs) and is a part of

Braulio Carrillo National Park Braulio Carrillo National Park is a national park in Heredia Province and San José Province, in central Costa Rica. It is part of the Central Conservation Area. Geography The park is located on the volcanic Cordillera Central (Central mountain ...

Irazú Volcano National Park Irazú Volcano National Park, or in Spanish the , is a National Park in the Central Conservation Area of Costa Rica that encompasses the area around the Irazú Volcano in Cartago Province which incorporates what used to be the Ruben Torres Rojas ...

contains Irazú Volcano, the highest volcano of Costa Rica. The significant elevation of the volcano makes it a strategic site for telecommunications, many national television and radio stations have their antennas at the summit. Turrialba Volcano National Park centered on Turrialba Volcano features fumarolic activity and gas emissions.Costa Rican Vulcanologic and Seismologic Observatory: Turrialba

References

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Central America Volcanic Arc {{CostaRica-geo-stub