Guanacaste Costa Rica

Guanacaste is located in the northwestern part of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. To the north it borders Nicaragua. To the east is the Alajuela Province, and to the southeast is the Puntarenas Province. Guanacaste's capital is Liberia. The province covers an area of 10,141 km², and, as of 2000, had a population of 264,238. It is the most sparsely populated of all the provinces of Costa Rica.

Long summer days and beautiful beaches are two phrases that best define what Guanacaste is all about. A province for the active soul, Guanacaste draws visitors with its stunning shoreline, incredible bird watching, amazing horseback riding, excellent surfing, superb snorkeling and wonderful mountain lake windsurfing. With so much to do, it?s easy to understand why so many people come to visit this amazing province.

Forming the eastern borders of Guanacaste are a chain of volcanoes that stretch out to join the Cordillera de Guanacaste and Cordillera de Tilaran mountain ranges. Offering some truly terrific hiking facilities, tourists can trek their way to the summit of a number of volcanoes, including Rincon de la Vieja Volcano Area, to enjoy some really breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. Passing through lovely lush dense forests, which play host to a fabulous array of exotic plant and wildlife, many rare and endangered animals and birds live here including jaguars and tapirs. From these mountains also flow various rivers that roll down to form an alluvial plain drained by the Rio Tempisque. This river in turns nurtures the province before emptying itself into the Golfo de Nicoya.

A region steep in culture, the name Guanacaste is derived from the word quahnacaztlan, which is a native word for the guanacaste tree. This tree is the national tree of Costa Rica.

One of the easiest ways to get to Guanacaste is to fly into the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia. A major reason why tourism has boomed in this region, this airport receives flights from all over the world especially the continental U.S. Most sites of this region are off the Pan-American Highway (Hwy. 1), which is scenic in its own right, moving northwest through Guanacaste and continuing almost to the Nicaraguan border. If you are traveling by bus, make sure to sit on the right hand side when northward bound as the views of the volcanoes in the distance are quite superb.

Guanacaste's climate and culture are unique among Costa Rican provinces. The province experiences little rain and consistent heat from November to April. Tourists seek out this dry heat during the North American winter to enjoy the breathtaking Guanacastecan beaches. From May to October, the climate is similar to that of San José, consisting of showers daily and moderate temperatures. Guanacaste is, however, considerably warmer than provinces residing in higher elevations.

Demographics Costa Rica

Most of the population descends from a mix of Chorotega Native Americans, Spaniards and sub-Saharan Africans, namely Bantu slaves. Guanacastecan residents speak a dialect distinct from the rest of Costa Rica. As in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Guanacastecans use the usted conjugation upon initial meetings, instead of tú, but once they have established a friendship, Guanacastecans use the vos conjugation. The Guanacaste culture has been successfully integrated into the mainstream culture; amongst the main elements are their music,literature (folklore), musical instruments, bullfighting and religious events.

Guanacaste is subdivided into 11 cantons (their capitals in parenthesis):

1. Abangares (Las Juntas)
2. Bagaces (Bagaces)
3. Cañas Blancas (Cañas)
4. Carrillo (Filadelfia)
5. Hojancha (Hojancha)
6. La Cruz (La Cruz)
7. Liberia (Liberia)
8. Nandayure (Carmona)
9. Nicoya (Nicoya)
10. Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz)
11. Tilarán (Tilarán)