Cartago (canton)

Cartago is a canton in the Cartago province of Costa Rica.^[1][2] The head city is Cartago.

Cartago
Canton
Ruins of Santiago Apóstol Church, a still standing monument in Cartago.
Flag Seal
Cartago canton
Cartago Cartago canton location in Costa Rica
Coordinates: 9.7889852°N 83.9261136°W / 9.7889852; -83.9261136
Country	Costa Rica
Province	Cartago
Creation	7 December 1848
Head city	Oriental
Districts	Districts Oriental Occidental Carmen San Nicolás Aguacaliente Guadalupe Corralillo Tierra Blanca Dulce Nombre Llano Grande Quebradilla
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Body	Municipalidad de Cartago
• Mayor	Mario Redondo Poveda (PAY)
Area
• Total	278.66 km2 (107.59 sq mi)
Elevation	1,575 m (5,167 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	147,898
• Estimate  (2022)	165,417
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−06:00
Canton code	301
Website	www.muni-carta.go.cr

History

Cartago was created on 7 December 1848 by decree 167.^[3]

Geography

Cartago has an area of 278.66 km² (107.59 sq mi)^[4] and a mean elevation of 1,575 m (5,167 ft).^[1]

Cartago is a T-shaped canton stretching southeast from its capital city to encompass a thin swatch of the Cordillera de Talamanca (Talamanca Mountain Range), and including portions of the Pan-American Highway.

Government

Mayor

According to Costa Rica's Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton.^[5] As of the latest municipal elections in 2024, the Let's Act Now Party (Partido Actuemos Ya) candidate, Mario Redondo Poveda, was elected mayor of the canton with 43.51% of the votes, with Silvia María Navarro Gómez and Marco Andrés Brenes Tinoco as first and second vice mayors, respectively.^[6]

Mayors of Cartago since the 2002 elections^[7]

Period	Name	Party
2002–2006	Harold Humberto Góngora Fuentes[lower-alpha 1]	PUSC
2006–2010	Rolando Alberto Rodríguez Brenes	PLN
2010–2016
2016–2020
2020–2024	Mario Redondo Poveda	ADC
2024–2028		PAY

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Cartago's Municipal Council has 9 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor (regidor propietario) is absent.^[5] The current president of the Municipal Council is the Let's Act Now Party member, Alonso Picado Chacón.^[8] The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024–2028 period is as follows:

Current composition of the Municipal Council of Cartago after the 2024 municipal elections^[9]

Political parties in the Municipal Council of Cartago
Political party			Regidores
			№	Owner	Substitute
	Let's Act Now Party (PAY)		4	Alonso Picado Chacón(P)	Roberto Carlos Solano Ortega
				Franci Noheli Camacho Vargas	Mónica Machado Barquero
				Andrés Damián Zúñiga Orozco	Jorge Armando Brenes Calderón
				Grettel Quesada Moya	Natalia Isabel Serrano Redondo
	National Liberation Party (PLN)		3	Jonathan Arce Moya	Braulio José Martínez Rojas
				Marcela Quesada Cerdas	Stephannie Melissa Meneses Quirós
				Caleb Andrés Pichardo Aguilar	Luis Martín Martínez Rojas
	National Democratic Agenda (ADN)		1	Marvin Alvarado Méndez	Manuel Enrique González Espinoza
	Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)		1	Alberto Acevedo Gutiérrez	Armando José Canno Díaz

Districts

The canton of Cartago is subdivided into the following districts:

1. Oriental
2. Occidental
3. Carmen
4. San Nicolás
5. Aguacaliente
6. Guadalupe
7. Corralillo
8. Tierra Blanca
9. Dulce Nombre
10. Llano Grande
11. Quebradilla

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	±% p.a.
1864	16,780	—
1883	20,398	+1.03%
1892	25,898	+2.69%
1927	26,909	+0.11%
1950	30,763	+0.58%
1963	46,722	+3.27%
1973	65,310	+3.41%
1984	87,125	+2.65%
2000	132,057	+2.63%
2011	147,898	+1.04%
2022	165,417	+1.02%
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos[10] Centro Centroamericano de Población[11]

Cartago had a population of 165,417 inhabitants in 2022, up from 147,898 people at the time of the 2011 census.^[12][13]

In 2022, Cartago had a Human Development Index of 0.791, the 3rd highest in its province, behind El Guarco and La Unión, and 18th in the country.^[14]

Transportation

Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes:

• National Route 2
• National Route 10
• National Route 206
• National Route 218
• National Route 219
• National Route 222
• National Route 228
• National Route 231
• National Route 233
• National Route 236
• National Route 304
• National Route 401
• National Route 405
• National Route 406
• National Route 407

Rail transportation

The Interurbano Line operated by Incofer goes through this canton.

Notes

1. Also legally named Carlos Humberto Góngora Fuentes.

References

1. "Declara oficial para efectos administrativos, la aprobación de la División Territorial Administrativa de la República N°41548-MGP". Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (in Spanish). 19 March 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
2. División Territorial Administrativa de la República de Costa Rica (PDF) (in Spanish). Editorial Digital de la Imprenta Nacional. 8 March 2017. ISBN 978-9977-58-477-5.
3. Hernández, Hermógenes (1985). Costa Rica: evolución territorial y principales censos de población 1502 - 1984 (in Spanish) (1 ed.). San José: Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia. pp. 164–173. ISBN 9977-64-243-5. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
4. Instituto Geográfico Nacional de Costa Rica (20 June 2024). "División Territorial Administrativa, 2024 – Totales de Provincias, Cantones y Distritos de Costa Rica" [Administrative Territorial Division, 2024 – Totals of Provinces, Cantons and Districts of Costa Rica] (PDF) (in Spanish).
5. Asamblea Legislativa de la República de Costa Rica (13 May 2024). "Código Municipal" [Municipal Code]. Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (in Spanish).
6. Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (8 March 2024). "N.° 2157-E11-2024 - Declaratoria de elección de alcaldías y vicealcaldías de las municipalidades de los cantones de la provincia de Cartago, para el período comprendido entre el primero de mayo de dos mil veinticuatro y el treinta de abril de dos mil veintiocho" (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
7. Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. "Resoluciones declaratorias de elección". Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 July 2024.
8. "Orden del Día - Martes 23 de Julio de 24 - Sesión Ordinaria 019-2024" (PDF). Municipalidad de Cartago (in Spanish). 23 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
9. Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (12 March 2024). "N.° 2220-E11-2024 - Declaratoria de elección de regidurías de las municipalidades de los cantones de la provincia de Cartago, para el período comprendido entre el primero de mayo de dos mil veinticuatro y el treinta de abril de dos mil veintiocho" (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
10. "Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos" (in Spanish).
11. Centro Centroamericano de Población de la Universidad de Costa Rica. "Sistema de Consulta a Bases de Datos Estadísticas" (in Spanish).
12. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (July 2023). Estimación de Población y Vivienda 2022 : Resultados Generales [2022 Population and Housing Estimate : General Results] (PDF) (in Spanish). ISBN 9789930525753. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
13. "Censo. 2011. Población total por zona y sexo, según provincia, cantón y distrito". Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2020.
14. Sistema Nacional de Información y Registro Único de Beneficiarios del Estado; Escuela de Estadística de la Universidad de Costa Rica; Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (9 June 2023). "Atlas de Desarrollo Humano Cantonal en Costa Rica, 2022". Retrieved 31 July 2024.