Paraíso is a canton 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 ...

. The head city is in Paraíso district.

History

Paraíso was created on 7 December 1848 by decree 167.

Geography

Paraíso has an area of and a mean elevation of . Paraíso is an elongated canton that stretches southeast from its head city to encompass a swatch 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).

Government

Mayor

According to Costa Rica's Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton. As of the latest municipal elections in 2024, the United We Can candidate, Michaell Álvarez Quirós, was elected mayor of the canton with 41.37% of the votes, with Merlyn Rojas Mora and Roger Ricardo Zúñiga Vega as first and second vice mayors, respectively.

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called ) are elected every four years. Paraíso's Municipal Council has 7 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor () is absent. The current president of the Municipal Council is the

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party (abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton ...

member, Aldo Mata Coghi, with National Liberation Party member Silvia Elena Arce Araya as vice president. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024–2028 period is as follows:

Districts

The canton of Paraíso 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 ...

: # Paraíso #

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

# Orosi # Cachí # Llanos de Santa Lucía # Birrisito

Demographics

Paraíso had an estimated inhabitants in 2022, up from the people at the time of the 2011 census. In 2022, Paraíso 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 0.778, ranking it 4th highest in its province.

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

{{Provinces of Costa Rica Cantons of Cartago Province Populated places in Cartago Province