Heredia is a canton in the Heredia province of Costa Rica. The head city is in Heredia district, and is also the provincial capital of Heredia Province.

History

Heredia was created on 7 December 1848 by decree 167.

Geography

Heredia has an area of 283.11 km2 and a mean elevation of 1242 m. The canton includes the areas south and west of the capital city of Heredia as far as the Virilla River and the National Route 1. The non-contiguous district of Varablanca, that includes a large portion of Braulio Carrillo National Park high in the Cordillera Central, is also administered as part of Heredia Canton.

Government

Mayor

According to Costa Rica's Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton. As of the latest municipal elections in 2024, the National Liberation Party candidate, Ángela Ileana Aguilar Vargas, was elected mayor of the canton with 31.58% of the votes, with Víctor Andrés Sánchez González and Kenneth Armando Arguedas Navarro as first and second vice mayors, respectively.

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Heredia's Municipal Council has 9 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor (regidor propietario) is absent. The current president of the Municipal Council is the Sentir Heredia regidor, José Pablo Quesada Castro, with National Liberation Party member, Heidy Hernández Benavides, as vice president. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024–2028 period is as follows:

Districts

The canton of Heredia is subdivided into the following districts:

Demographics

In 2022, the National Institute of Statistics and Census estimated Heredia's population at 131,901, up from 123,616 at the time of the 2011 census. According to a publication by the United Nations Development Programme, Heredia had a Human Development Index of 0.816 in 2022, ranking it 4th in its province and 9th in the entire country.

Transportation

Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes: • CR RNP 1.svg National Route 1 • CR RNP 3.svg National Route 3 • CR RNP 5.svg National Route 5 • CR RNS 103.svg National Route 103 • CR RNS 106.svg National Route 106 • CR RNS 111.svg National Route 111 • CR RNS 112.svg National Route 112 • CR RNS 113.svg National Route 113 • CR RNS 120.svg National Route 120 • CR RNS 126.svg National Route 126 • CR RNS 171.svg National Route 171

Rail transportation

The Interurbano Line operated by Incofer goes through this canton.