Pérez Zeledón is the 19thcanton of the province of San José in Costa Rica, located in the Brunca region. The canton covers an area of, making it the seventh largest of the 81 cantons in the country. It has a population of 134,534 as of the 2011 Costa Rican census. The capital city of the canton is San Isidro. The canton's boundaries are established by the Río Savegre on the northwest, the Río Guabo and a series of coastal mountain ranges on the southwest and south, and the peaks of the highest mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca on the east. In the middle of the canton, the Río General, from which the canton's capital city takes its name, runs north to south.
Geography
The canton of Pérez Zeledón is subdivided into 11 districts :
The canton of Pérez Zeledón was established October 9th, 1931 and contained four initial districts: Ureña, El General, Daniel Flores, and Rivas, with Ureña being the capital.
Early Costa Rican Settlements
Near the end of the 19th century, between 1870 and 1899, there were quite a few families living in El General valley. The hamlets of El General, Palmares, Rivas, and Ureña were further populated from 1900 onward. The Caserío area of Ureña grew significantly, and by 1911, during Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno's administration, the Refuges of Ojo de Agua, El Cerro de la Muerte, and División were established. These refuges would further advance the growth of the region known today as Pérez Zeledón and El General Valley.
, Pérez Zeledón's capital, was awarded the recognition of Ciudad Mártir, regarding the civil war of 1948, as established by Decree Nº274. This decree established official legal recognition of the city's participation in the civil war of 1948. A section of the decree states : In English this would loosely translate into: Pérez Zeledón was also the location of significant battles during the Costa Rican Civil War. The most notable battle was the Battle of San Isidro de El General. This battle was carried out at around 6:30 a.m. when 200 government forces engaged the revolutionaries at the city's central plaza. The battle was won by José Figueres Ferrer and his revolutionary forces, which secured the southern pacific region of Costa Rica in rebel hands.
Economy
The canton of Pérez Zeledón's economic development has been characterized mostly by agriculture, livestock, trade, industry and tourism. One factor that has driven this economic development is the canton's unique geographic positioning; making it a sort of 'bridge' between Costa Rica's capital and the southern areas of the country, especially those that border Panamá. Important agricultural activities:
The first two products are the most important in the region. Livestock activities are also economically relevant, with pigs and cattle being the most important. The latter is used for fattening and dairy. Commercial activities have emerged with boom in recent decades, largely due to the establishment of credit unions, banks, local companies, media, and various other companies of the central valley setting operations in the canton.
The first elementary school in Pérez Zeledón was established during Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra's government. It was called Escuela Mixta de Ureña and was located in the Ureña district, south of San Isidro de El General'scentral park. After the Costa Rican Civil War the school was moved to a new building located 100 meters past San Isidro de El General's main entrance. It currently serves under the name "Escuela 12 de Marzo", in honour of the start of the Costa Rican Civil War.
