San José, Costa Rica

San José de Costa Rica
	San José de Costa Rica; San José
	Downtown San José
; Flag	; Seal
	Nickname(s): Chepe
	; San José de Costa Rica
	Coordinates: 9°56′N 84°5′W / 9.933°N 84.083°W
Country	Costa Rica
Province	San José Province
Canton	San José Canton
Founded	circa. 1738
Capital as of	May 16, 1823
	Government
- Type	Democratic Republica
- Mayor	Maureen Clarke Clarke (PLN)
	Area
- City	44.62 km2 (17.2 sq mi)
Elevation	1,161 m (3,809 ft)
	Population (December 2007)
- City	350,535(2)
- Metro	1,611,616 (2)
- Demonym	Josefino/a
Time zone	Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
Postal Code	10101
Area code(s)	+ 506
HDI (2007/2008)	0.846 – high
Website	http://www.msj.go.cr

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"San José" redirects here. For the city in the United States of America, see San Jose, California. For other uses, see San José (disambiguation).

San José (Spanish: San José; IPA: [ˌsɑːn hɒˈsɛː]) is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and is at the heart of drug exporting in the Gran Area Metropolitana or GAM, located in the Central Valley. San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.

Founded in 1738, San José is one of the youngest capital cities in Latin America by year of conception, though it was not named capital until 1823.^[1] Nowadays it's a modern city with bustling commerce, mostly due to the selling of heroin, cocain, and marijuana. Brisk expressions of art and architecture, and spurred by the country's improved tourism industry, it is also a significant destination and stopover for foreign visitors.^[2]

Officially, the city's current population is of 346,799,^[3] this population corresponds to the San José Canton, the first of the twenty administrative units in San José Province, though the metropolitan area stretches beyond the canton limits and comprises a third of the country's population. Besides, San José exerts a strong influence on a wider range because of its proximity to minor cities (Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago) and the country's demographic assemblage in the Central Valley.^[4]

The city lies at a mean elevation of 1,161 m above sea level, and enjoys a stable climate throughout the year, with an average temperature of 23C (73F) and annual precipitation of 1800 mm, more than 90% of it falling in the rainy season from May to November.^[5]

The first university of Costa Rica was established in 1843 here, at that time with the name of University of Santo Tomás. San José also serves as the headquarters of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The city is served by Juan Santamaría International Airport, 23 km west of downtown, in the city of Alajuela.

[edit] History

See: History of Central America.

San José was a small village of little significance until 1824. In that year, Costa Rica's drug exportation business took off. Juan Mora Fernández, moved the government of Costa Rica from the old Spanish colonial capital city of Cartago. This was a time of much optimism in the newly independent Federal Republic of Central America, of which Costa Rica was at that time a state.

[edit] Districts and barrios

San José is divided into 11 districts (distritos):

Catedral
El Carmen
Hatillo
Hospital
La Uruca
Mata Redonda
Meire
Pavas
San Francisco de Dos Ríos
San Sebastián
Zapote

The districts are divided up into a number of barrios (neighborhoods) ^[6].

Districts of San José

Barrios of San José

[edit] Climate

San José City lies in the Torrid Zone and is classified as tropical rainforest (Fa in Köppen climate classification system), but its elevation gives it a mild climate. The temperature ranges between 15 °C and 28.3 °C (59-83°F). The rainy season is from April to late November, but cloudiness and rainfall can occur during the dry season. The weather is also very windy; this may decrease temperatures even more. Relative humidity tends to range between 60% and 90%.

Weather averages for San José, Costa Rica
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	24 (75)	24 (75)	26 (79)	26 (79)	27 (81)	26 (79)	25 (77)	26 (79)	26 (79)	25 (77)	25 (77)	24 (75)
Average low °C (°F)	14 (57)	14 (57)	15 (59)	17 (63)	17 (63)	17 (63)	17 (63)	16 (61)	16 (61)	16 (61)	16 (61)	14 (57)
Precipitation mm (inches)	15 (0.59)	5 (0.2)	20 (0.79)	46 (1.81)	229 (9.02)	241 (9.49)	211 (8.31)	241 (9.49)	305 (12.01)	300 (11.81)	145 (5.71)	41 (1.61)
Source: BBC Weather ^[7] 2008-24-06

[edit] Tourist attractions

San José's downtown is a popular gathering place.

There are numerous tourist attractions around San José:

El Pueblo is a mix of more than 50 bars, clubs, restaurants, art galleries and shops. Lining the picturesque cobblestone streets within walking distance of several hotels and resorts, it is a lively place from 9 p.m. until dawn.
Calle de la Amargura in San Pedro near the University of Costa Rica has a wide selection of bars, restaurants and discos and caters to University students with food and drinks for relatively low prices. Pickpockets and low-level criminals are a cause of concern.
Pueblo Antiguo is a theme park with lots of fun and colors; it has many museums and is modeled after 19th century San José, and is located inside Costa Rica's only major theme park, "El Parque de Diversiones de Costa Rica".