Puriscal Canton

Puriscal is the name of the 4th canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 553.66 km² [Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), 2001.] , and has a population of 31,202 [Estimates of Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC), May 2003.] . The capital city of the canton is Santiago.

The Río Chucás delineates the canton's northernmost boundary, while the Río Chires marks its far southern border with the Puntarenas canton of Parrita. The canton includes a major portion of the Coastal Mountain Range.

The canton owes his name to the flower of the common bean. Only 18% of its population live in urban areas. Among its inhabitants, 20.2% are under 10 years old and 7.4% are over 65.

The canton of Puriscal is subdivided into 9 distritos (districts).

# Santiago
# Mercedes Sur
# Barbacoas
# Grifo Alto
# San Rafael
# Candelarita
# Desamparaditos
# San Antonio
# Chires

History

The canton was established by a decree of August 7, 1868.

References