COSTA RICAN CENTRAL VALLEY

The 'Central Valley' () is a plateau and a geographic region located in central Costa Rica. The land in the valley is relatively plain, despite of being surrounded by several mountains of volcanos, the latter part of the Central Range, and the region houses almost three quartes of Costa Ricans, including the capital and most populous city, San José. The valley is shared between the provinces of Alajuela, Heredia, San José and Cartago, and the region properly occupies an area of 11.366 km² (more than a fifth of the whole country).

Contents

Geographic dimensions

Weather

Economic importance

Geographic dimensions

The Central Valley is commonly referred as extending from San Ramón, Costa Rica in Alajuela Province at west, to Paraíso, Costa Rica in Cartago Province at east. On the mountainous range at the north there are four volcanos from Central Range, namely, Poás, Barva, Irazú and Turrialba. The mountains that rounded the plateau to the south form part of Central Range and Talamanca Range, but are less higher than the northern range. Also, there is a curious division through the valley (from north to south) by a less important range called ''Cerros de la Carpintera'', that beside its smaller size, it cause an important impact on weather and ecosystems of the region (because of the influence of Pacific and Caribbean climates and winds, that affects each part of the sectors divided by this range distinctively).

Weather

Because of the height, the temperature in the Central Valley oscillates between 15°C and 30°C, varying mainly because of the position toward the mountains (the height also oscillates between 800 mts. and 1,500 mts. above sea level). The western part of the Valley is influenced by trade winds in summer, and, as the rest of the country with the exception of the Caribbean region, there are two climate seasons clearly defined, wet and dry. The eastern part of the Valley is more influenced by Caribbean conditions, which are more volatile. Precipitation on the region varies from 1,900 mm in an urban an centrical place like Pavas to 3,200 mm in a rural and mountainous place like Fraijanes, and humidity varies from 75% (10% of volatility) in Pavas, to 87% (rarely descending less than 80%) in Fraijanes.

Economic importance

The Central Valley had been traditionally the favorite place for Costa Ricans to live, and even today it produces an unequal distribution of population in the country, despite its size. This condition is because of the fertility of land in the region, helped by the influence of volcanoes and rivers who run the valley. Weather also favours agriculture and farming activities. Because of the agglomeration of population, the valley is the center of commerce, industry and service activities, just helped by ports on both coasts, and by Liberia in Guanacaste (which has the other international airport besides Juan Santamaría Airport in Alajuela) that have similar economic movement.