San José, Costa Rica

The population of San José grew during the eighteenth-century colonization planning, which was different from the traditional foundation plans of Spanish cities in the continent of Central America.

Founded in 1736 by order of Cabildo de León, its objective was to concentrate the scattered inhabitants of the Aserrí Valley.[14] De León thus ordered the construction of a chapel near the area known as La Boca del Monte which was completed a year later. That year St. Joseph was chosen as parish patron, hence its name. The chapel, which was very modest, was erected with help from the church of Cartago.

Unlike neighboring Cartago, San José was not founded by formal decree and thus lacked a city government. It was not until the enactment of the Constitution of Cádiz in 1812 that San José had its first city government. On 18 October 1813, the area was first defined as a city by presbyter Florencio del Castillo, on behalf of the Spanish government, a title which was then lost in 1814 when Ferdinand VII of Spain annulled the proceedings of the courts. The municipal government was restored in 1820 along with the title of city and in 1823 San José became the capital of Costa Rica.[14][15] This makes San José one of the youngest capital cities in Latin America by year of conception.

Population and economic growth were spurred by improvements in access to water and the installment of the Tobacco Factory in 1782. The accumulation of capital brought by tobacco plantations allowed the city to economically surpass neighboring provinces.[16]

The first modern urban neighborhood carries the name of its founder, the French coffee entrepreneur Monsieur Amon, and was created in the late 19th century, in line with Belle Époque contemporary architecture. Barrio Amon, as well as the National Theatre, remain symbols of the so-called Costa Rican coffee golden age.

Today San José is a modern city with bustling commerce and brisk expressions of art and architecture. Spurred by the country's improved tourism industry, it is a significant destination and stopover for foreign visitors.[17]

San José exerts a strong influence because of its proximity to other cities (Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago) and the country's demographic assemblage in the Central Valley.[18]

The borders of San José city, as defined in the Administrative Territorial Division[1] and stipulated in the Executive Decree 11562 of 27 May 1980,[2] assign the borders of San José canton except an East sector of Uruca district. Therefore the city is composed of the totality of the districts of Carmen, Merced, Hospital, Catedral, Zapote, San Francisco de Dos Ríos, Mata Redonda, Pavas, Hatillo, San Sebastián and partially of Uruca district.

San José has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen climate classification Aw).[19] Precipitation varies widely between the driest month (6.3 mm (0.25 in)) and the wettest month (355.1 mm (13.98 in)), while average temperatures vary little.[20] The hottest month is April with an average temperature of 23.7 °C (74.7 °F), while the coolest month is October with an average temperature of 21.8 °C (71.2 °F).

Costa Rica has developed high education levels. As of 2011 97.6% of the population over 10 was literate,[23] 96% of children aged 6–11 attend primary school and 71% of students of high-school age attend high-school.[24] The country as a whole has the highest education levels in Central America and one of the best in Latin America. This is especially true for San José, the nation's educational hub home to a large number of public and private universities.[25]

University of Santo Tomas, the first university of Costa Rica, was established here in 1843.[26] That institution maintained close ties with the Roman Catholic Church and was closed in 1888 by the progressive and anti-clerical government of President Bernardo Soto Alfaro as part of a campaign to modernize public education. The schools of law, agronomy, fine arts, and pharmacy continued to operate independently, but Costa Rica had no university proper until 1940, when those four schools were re-united to establish the modern University of Costa Rica (UCR), during the reformist administration of President Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. The University for Peace, an intergovernmental organization with university status, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980, is located in San José.

The city's public education system is composed of pre-schools, elementary and high schools (from grades 7 to 11), which are located in all of the city's districts and are under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Education. Nevertheless, private institutions do exist within the city. These educational institutions range from pre-schools to universities. Most tend to be bilingual, teaching subjects in either French or English and Spanish, among other languages, apart from just teaching a certain language.

San José is one of Latin America's safest cities. As of 19 June 2012, both city and nation reduced their crime indices considerably. Nationwide, crime was reduced from 12.5 to 9.5 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants.

In 2012, new police equipment was issued by the government, and the security budget was increased. President Laura Chinchilla's government has donated vehicles and other equipment to the police department on at least two occasions.[27]

The city's greater metropolitan area (in Los Yoses, San Pedro) also serves as the headquarters of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

San José has several internal transportation networks that connect the city districts and metropolitan area; as well as national transportation networks that connect the city to other parts of Costa Rica.

San José is undergoing modernization in transportation. The mayor, Johnny Araya, has announced the establishment of an urban tramway system that will, in its first phase, cover the central core of the city going from west to east. This entire plan was announced and publicly presented in February 2011 by the city mayor and Costa Rican President, Laura Chinchilla.

On 27 September 2012, San José disclosed plans to install its first street signs, about 22,000 signs and plaques. It is estimated that the lack of proper street names for directions causes the loss of $720 million a year by the Inter-American Development Bank in 2008, due to undelivered, returned or re-sent mail.[30]

Costa Rican cuisine (comida típica) is generally not spicy. Throughout San José, the most popular food is the national dish of gallo pinto, which is a mixture of fried rice and black beans. Gallo pinto is usually served for breakfast with tortillas and natilla, a thin sour cream. Costa Rican restaurants serving traditional food at an affordable price are called sodas and usually offer casados for lunch and dinner. A casado (which means "married" in Spanish) consists of rice, beans, and meat, and normally comes with cabbage-and-tomato salad, fried plantains, and/or tortillas.[33] San José Central Market, in downtown San José, has numerous stalls and sodas.

The city's major football club is Deportivo Saprissa, which has won a record 36 league titles. The team plays its home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, which is located in Tibas. Another top-level club, Universidad, plays at the Estadio Ecológico.

San José hosted the 2015 FIBA COCABA Championship, where the Costa Rica national basketball team finished 2nd. Playground was the Gimnasio Nacional.

This is an alphabetical list of notable people who were born in or have lived in San José.

• Manuel Aguilar Chacón, former head of state of Costa Rica
• Randall Arauz, environmentalist
• Alicia Avilés, community leader
• Randall Azofeifa, football player for Herediano
• Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, former president of Costa Rica
• Daniel Cambronero, goalkeeper
• Joel Campbell, football player who used to play for Arsenal F.C.
• Laura Chinchilla, former president of Costa Rica
• es:Alex Curling Delisser, senator, human rights activist
• Mirta González Suárez, psychologist and writer
• Jens Hoffmann, writer and art curator
• Eunice Odio, writer
• Virginia Pérez-Ratton, artist
• Raquel Rodríguez, football player for Portland Thorns FC and the Costa Rica women's national football team
• Fernando Sánchez Campos, politician
• Ariel Sexton, mixed martial artist for ONE Championship
• Harry Shum Jr., dancer and actor
• Daniel Zovatto, American actor

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San José, Costa Rica.

• San José, Costa Rica travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipalidad de San José: office of the Mayor of San José
• "San José de Costa Rica" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
• "San José. The capital of Costa Rica" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.