Osa is a canton in the

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas (canton), Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which is made from the Puntar ...

province 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 ...

. The head city is in

Puerto Cortés Puerto Cortés, originally known as Puerto de Caballos, is a port city and municipality on the north Caribbean coast of Honduras, right on the Laguna de Alvarado, north of San Pedro Sula and east of Omoa, with a natural bay. The present city ...

district.

History

Osa was created on 29 July 1940 by decree 185. In pre- Columbian times was populated by

Boruca The Boruca (also known as the Brunca or the Brunka) are the indigenous people living in Costa Rica. The tribe has about 2,660 members, most living on a reservation in the Puntarenas Province in southwestern Costa Rica, a few miles away from the ...

which left legacies such as fields and stone walkways.

Geography

Osa has an area of km² and a mean elevation of metres. The canton begins at the Barú River near Dominical on the central Pacific coast. It continues as a narrow strip of land southward to include the area around Palmar and

Sierpe Sierpe is a district of the Osa canton, in the Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the titl ...

, finally widening to take in the entire neck and upper portion of the Osa Peninsula, where significant gold mining operations are located. As its name suggests,

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

s and

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

s migrate into the waters to calve, mate, and to rest.

Whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins ( cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

is available along the coasts.

Isla del Caño Caño Island ( es, Isla del Caño) is a small island and biological reserve in the Bahia de Corcovado ( Corcovado Bay) in Osa, Costa Rica. It is on the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica, west of ''Punta Llorona'' on Península de Osa. It rises s ...

is part of Osa canton.

Districts

The canton of Osa 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 o ...

: #

# Palmar #

# Bahía Ballena # Piedras Blancas #

Bahía Drake Bahía Drake (Drake Bay) is a small bay on the north side of the Osa Peninsula on the coast of southwestern Costa Rica. This bay is believed to be a port used by Sir Francis Drake during his raids on the Spanish Main in the 16th century and t ...

Demographics

For the 2011 census, Osa had a population of inhabitants.

Transportation

Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes:

Conservation and tourism

In the canton there are conservation areas that are part of the

Osa Conservation Area Osa Conservation Area is an administrative area which is managed by SINAC for the purposes of conservation in Costa Rica, on the southern Pacific coast region. It contains two National Parks, and numerous Wildlife refuges and other types of natu ...

, such as

Corcovado National Park Corcovado National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Corcovado) is a National Park on the Osa Peninsula, in Osa Canton, southwestern Costa Rica (9° North, 83° West), which is part of the Osa Conservation Area. It was established on 24 October 1975 ...

Ballena Marine National Park Ballena Marine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Marino Ballena), is a National Park of Costa Rica, part of the Osa Conservation Area created as a safe area for humpback whale migration, hence its name, as is the Spanish word for whale. The na ...

and Piedras Blancas National Park.

References

Cantons of Puntarenas Province Populated places in Puntarenas Province {{CostaRica-geo-stub