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 and a mean elevation of .
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, which 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.
+ Mayors of Heredia since the 2002 electionsPeriodNameParty2002–2006Javiel Carvajal Molina PUSC2006–2010José Manuel Ulate Avendaño PLN2010–20162016–20202020–20242024–2028Ángela Ileana Aguilar Vargas
Municipal Council Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called ) 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 () 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:
+ Current composition of the Municipal Council of Heredia after the 2024 municipal electionsPolitical parties in the Municipal Council of HerediaPolitical partyRegidores№OwnerSubstituteNational Liberation Party (PLN)3Lilliana Jiménez BarrientosMaritza Sandoval VegaLuis Alfonso Araya VillalobosAlfredo Eduardo Prendas JiménezHeidy Hernández Benavides(VP)Odette Fernández SalazarSocial Christian Unity Party (PUSC) 3Marlon Antonio Obando JuárezJean Carlos Barboza RomanRoxana Mayela Arias RamírezMaribel Quesada FonsecaLuis Alberto Williams OvaresFreddy Cervantes PaniaguaSocial Democratic Progress Party (PSD)1Jorge Eduardo Blanco ChanManrique Ortíz PaniaguaBroad Front (FA)1José Daniel Berrocal MirandaFidel Barrera RomeroFeel Heredia (SH)1José Pablo Quesada Castro(P)Esteban Felipe Venegas Murillo
Districts The canton of Heredia is subdivided into the following districts: Heredia Mercedes San Francisco Ulloa Varablanca
Demographics
In 2022, the National Institute of Statistics and Census estimated Heredia's population at , up from 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:
Rail transportation The Interurbano Line operated by Incofer goes through this canton.
References