Los Santos Zone ( es, Zona de los Santos) is a mountainous region 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 capital ...
of
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 ...
, in the center-south of the country. It is also known in Spanish as or just .
It corresponds to a wide sector of a series of intermontane valleys composed by the cantons of
Tarrazú,
Dota
''Dota'' is a series of strategy video games by Valve. The series began in 2003 with the release of ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign o ...
and
León Cortés Castro
León Cortés Castro (December 8, 1882 – March 3, 1946) was a Costa Rican politician. He served as President of Costa Rica from 1936 to 1940. During his term he introduced new bank reforms, supported banana plantations in the South Pacific reg ...
. The nearby districts of
San Cristóbal and
Frailes, both of
Desamparados canton
Desamparados is the 3rd canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 118.26 km², and has a population of 206,708, making it the third most populated among the 81 cantons of Costa Rica. The capital city o ...
, are under the socioeconomic influence of the zone.
Toponymy
The name alludes to the
catholic saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...
names of the districts of
Santa María of Dota,
San Marcos
San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to:
Towns and cities Argentina
* San Marcos, Salta
Colombia
* San Marcos, Antioquia
* San Marcos, Sucre
Costa Rica
* San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú)
...
,
San Carlos and
San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Lorenzo, Santa Fe
* San Lorenzo Department, Chaco
* Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
of Tarrazú, and
San Pablo,
San Andrés,
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
,
San Isidro of León Cortés Castro.
Conservation areas
The
Los Quetzales National Park
Los Quetzales National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Los Quetzales), located 97 kilometers from San Isidro de El General, Costa Rica, it was created in 2006 by decree 32981-MINAE. It is managed under the Central Conservation Area of the National Sys ...
is located in the area.
Economy
Agriculture
The region is recognized as a major
coffee production zone in the country. Apples are also cultivated in the region.
Remittances
The region's economy and social fabric has been deeply shaped by emigration to the United States, which started in the 1960s. A majority of the region's residents have family members who today reside in the United States, namely in the state of New Jersey. These immigrants play a critical role in bankrolling the region's coffee industry and keeping families afloat as global coffee prices decline.
[Kordick, Carmen. The Saints of Progress: Coffee, Migration, and Costa Rican National Identity. University of Alabama Press, 2019. ]
Tourism
The zone has many tourist attractions due to the coffee production of the region, Los Quetzales National Park and the easy access through the
Inter-American Highway
The Inter-American Highway (IAH) is the Central American section of the Pan-American Highway and spans between Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Panama City, Panama.
History
The idea of a road being built across all of Central America became a tangible ...
, (
Route 2) and close proximity to the
Greater Metropolitan Area.
References
{{reflist
Geography of San José Province