Provinces of Costa Rica

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Updates: 

I have acquired the province populations from the 2000 census of Costa Rica.

The National Institute of Statistics and Census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos) has defined a hierarchical code for the administrative divisions of Costa Rica. Each municipality has a distinct five-digit code. The first digit represents a province (note: not region), and the province code is that digit followed by four zeros. Likewise, the first three digits of the municipality code represent a canton, and the canton code ends in two zeros.

Country overview: 

Costa Rica has been an independent country for the whole twentieth century. There have been minor territorial transfers, but the names and capitals of its provinces have lasted the whole century.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Costa Rica
2. Dutch: Costa Rica, Republiek Costa Rica (formal)
3. English: Republic of Costa Rica (formal)
4. Finnish: Costa Rica
5. French: Costa Rica m
6. German: Costa Rica n
7. Icelandic: Kostaríka
8. Italian: Costa Rica f
9. Norwegian: Costa Rica, Republikken Costa Rica (formal)
10. Portuguese: Costa Rica, República f da Costa f Rica (formal)
11. Spanish: Costa Rica, República f de Costa f Rica (formal)
12. Swedish: Costa Rica

Origin of name: 

Spanish for rich coast. Columbus thought there was gold to be found there.

Primary subdivisions: 

Costa Rica is divided into seven provincias (provinces).

Postal codes: 

Costa Rica uses four-digit postal codes. They don't correlate well with the provinces.

Further subdivisions:

See the Cantons of Costa Rica page.

The provinces are subdivided into cantons, which in turn are subdivided into districts.

Costa Rica is also divided into six regions. I haven't been able to find a direct explanation for the coexistence of regions and provinces. It appears that the provinces are the primary units of local government. The regions seem to be used for certain statistical reports, such as public health. Some region names derive from precolumbian ethnic groups. The regional division listed below comes from the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce. According to the MEIC page, this regionalization of Costa Rica was created by Decree No. 16068, Plan of February 15, 1985. Other sources have slightly different lists of regions. Central is sometimes subdivided into Central Norte, Central Occidental, Central Oriental, and Central Sur.

Territorial extent: 

1. Costa Rica owns Isla del Coco in the Pacific Ocean.
2. Puntarenas includes the southeastern part of Península de Nicoya; Isla Chira and other islands in the Gulf of Nicoya; and Isla del Caño.

Change history: 

~1990: Name of the capital of Limón changed from Limón to Puerto Limón

Other names of subdivisions: 

Brunca: Pacífico Sur (variant)