San Jose

The capital of Costa Rica is called San Jose. It is the largest city in the country and also the most populated one. About 40% of the country live in San Jose, or 2 million people. It enjoys a stable, mild climate and is protected from most natural disasters by the tall mountains that surround it. It also perfectly exemplifies the size of Costa Rica: you can go from one part of the city to any of the surrounding mountains in more than an hour. The city covers the whole central valley and stretches towards the mountains in which it dissipates. San Jose "swallowed" the neighboring cities of Alajuela and Heredia and the bigger city is now called GAM or Gran Area metropolitana

San Jose was founded in 1738