Guanacaste Province
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Guanacaste is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the northwestern part of the country, at the coast to the Pacific Ocean. To the north it borders Nicaragua, in fact Guanacaste originally belonged to Nicaragua. To the west is the province Alajuela, to the south-east is the province Puntarenas. The capital is Liberia. The province covers an area of 10,141 km², and has a population of 264,238 (2000).
Unique to Guanacaste among Costa Rican provinces are both its climate and culture. Guanacaste experiences little rain and consistent heat from November to April, providing enjoyable dry heat for tourists seeking time on any of the breathtaking Guanacastecan beaches throughout the North-American winter. From May to October, the climate is similar to that of San Jose, consisting of showers daily and moderate temperatures. Guanacaste is, however, considerably warmer than provinces residing in higher elevations.
Most of the population descends from a mix of Chorotega Indians, Spaniards and Bantu Africans. Guanacastecan residents are unique in culture and language among Costa Ricans, because the Guanacaste province to this day still resembles Nicaraguan culture to whom it once belonged. Guanacastecans also tend to pronounce Spanish such as the one spoken in Nicaragua. They use, as in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the "usted" conjugation upon intial meetings, instead of "tú", but once friendship has been set with the person the "vos," conjugating is used. Guanacaste is subdivided into 11 cantons.
Canton (Capital):
- 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)
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