Costa Rica guide

Guanacaste Province

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.

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. Guancaste is, however, considerably warmer than provinces residing in higher elevations.

Most of the population descends from a mix of Chorotega Native Americans, Spaniards and sub-Saharan Africans. 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.

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

Abangares (Las Juntas)
Bagaces (Bagaces)
Cañas Blancas (Cañas)
Carrillo (Filadelfia)
Hojancha (Hojancha)
La Cruz (La Cruz)
Liberia (Liberia)
Nandayure (Carmona)
Nicoya (Nicoya)
Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz)
Tilarán (Tilarán)

Also see:
• Wildlife of Costa Rica
• List of birds of Costa Rica

See:
• Costa Rica information
• Guanacaste Province
• Liberia, Costa Rica
• San José, Costa Rica

• Tamarindo
• Manuel Antonio
• Arenal Volcano
• Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park
• Monteverde

• Kayaking
• Beaches
• Adventure Tours are in Costa Rica
• Costa Rica Luxury Real Estate Agents
• Costa Rica Scuba Diving Paradise
• travel to costa rica
• real estate in costa rica

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Guanacaste Province".