Desamparados (canton)


Desamparados is the 3rd canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 118.26 km², and has a population of 206,708, making it the third most populated among the 81 cantons of Costa Rica. The capital city of the canton is also called Desamparados.
The canton begins in the southern suburbs of the national capital city of San José, with the Río Tiribí marking its northern boundary. It snakes its way south in the shape of a backward ´S´, finally reaching its southern limit at the Río Tarrazú. It contains the bigger of the last forest lungs in the metropolitan area of Costa Ricans capital, the Loma Salitral, which conservation issues have generated social conflicts between community environmentalist and immobiliary developers, as it is seen as an identity mark of the desamparadeño people and a very important infiltration area to prevent the frequents and disastrous floods in the district of Gravilias.
Urban areas claim 80.4% of the canton's population. Those under age 10 make up 19.8% of its inhabitants, while 5.1% are over 65.

Districts

The canton of Desamparados is subdivided into 13 districts :
  1. Desamparados
  2. San Miguel
  3. San Juan de Dios
  4. San Rafael Arriba
  5. San Antonio
  6. Frailes
  7. Patarrá
  8. San Cristóbal
  9. Rosario
  10. Damas
  11. San Rafael Abajo
  12. Gravilias
  13. Los Guido

    History

The canton was established by a legislative decree of November 4, 1862.

Sports

The football soccer club Orión F.C. de Desamparados plays here.

Notable people