San Jos�, Costa Rica

San Jos� is the capital city of the nation of Costa Rica. San Jos� is also the nation's largest city, and the capital of San Jos� provence. San Jos� is located in the center of the country at 10.0� N, 84.2� W; it is in a mountain plateau at an elevation of about 1170 meters (some 4,000 feet) above sea level. In 1997 the city had an estimated population of 329,154 people.

History San Jos� was a small village of little importance until 1824. In that year Costa Rica's first elected Chief of State, liberal Juan Mora Fernandez[?], decided to move the government of Costa Rica from the old Spanish colonial capital of Cartago and make a fresh start with a new city. This was a time of much optimism with the newly independent nation of Central America, which Costa Rica at that time was a state within (see: History of Central America). The new capital of San Jos� grew rapidly. Because of it's 19th century origin, San Jos� has little of the Spanish colonial architecture common in most other Latin American capitals.

The University of Costa Rica[?] was established here in 1843.

In 1950 the city had a population of 86,900 people.