Puntarenas 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

History

Puntarenas was created on 7 December 1848 by decree 167.

Geography

Puntarenas has an area of km² and a mean elevation of metres. The canton includes areas on both sides of the

Gulf of Nicoya The Gulf of Nicoya ( es, Golfo de Nicoya) is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Nicoya Peninsula from the mainland of Costa Rica, and encompasses a marine and coastal landscape of wetlands, rocky islands and cliffs. The first Spanish ...

. The southern portion of the

Nicoya Peninsula The Nicoya Peninsula () is a peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is divided into two provinces: Guanacaste Province in the north, and the Puntarenas Province in the south. It is located at . It varies from 19 to wide and is approx ...

is also in the canton, including the popular tourist areas of Tambor, Montezuma and Malpais.

Districts

The canton of Puntarenas 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 ...

: *

Pitahaya A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus '' Selenicereus'' ...

* Chomes * Lepanto * Paquera * Manzanillo * Guacimal * Barranca *

Isla del Coco Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 13 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntarena ...

Cóbano Cóbano is a district of the Puntarenas canton, in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. History During the colonial period the entire Nicoya peninsula was administratively part of the Partido de Nicoya (nowadays Guanacaste), it was at th ...

* Chacarita * Chira *

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

* El Roble * Arancibia

Monte Verde Monte Verde is an archaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Southern Chile, which has been dated to as early as 18,500 cal BP (16,500 BC). Previously, the widely accepted date for early occu ...

was the ninth district of the canton, on 29 September 2021 it was segregated to become a canton on its own, the Monteverde canton, the twelfth of Puntarenas province and eighty third of the country.

Demographics

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

Transportation

Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes:

References

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