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Puriscal
Puriscal
Canton
	Flag Seal
	Puriscal canton
	Puriscal Puriscal canton location in San José Province Puriscal Puriscal canton location in Costa Rica
	Coordinates: 9°43′59″N 84°22′21″W / 9.7330278°N 84.3726231°W
Country	Costa Rica
Province	San José
Creation	26 June 1914
Head city	Santiago
Districts	Districts Santiago; Mercedes Sur; Barbacoas; Grifo Alto; San Rafael; Candelarita; Desamparaditos; San Antonio; Chires;
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Body	Municipalidad de Puriscal
• Mayor	Iris Cristina Arroyo Hererra (PLN)
Area
• Total	555.02 km2 (214.29 sq mi)
Elevation	945 m (3,100 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	33,004
• Estimate (2022)	38,525
• Density	59/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−06:00
Canton code	104
Website	puriscal.go.cr

Puriscal is the 4th canton in the province of San José, Costa Rica.^[1]^[2] The head city of the canton is Santiago.

Toponymy

In Spanish, a purisco is the flower of the common bean. A puriscal is a field of flowering beans.

History

Puriscal canton was established by decree on 7 August 1868.^[3]

Geography

Puriscal has an area of 555.02 km² (214.29 sq mi)^[4] and a mean elevation of 945 m (3,100 ft).^[1]

Chucás River delineates the canton's northernmost boundary, while the Chires River marks its far southern border, with the canton of Parrita in Puntarenas Province. Puriscal includes a significant portion of the Coastal Mountain Range. However, the canton is landlocked.

Government

Mayor

According to Costa Rica's Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton.^[5] As of the latest municipal elections in 2024, the National Liberation Party candidate, Iris Cristina Arroyo Herrera, was elected mayor of the canton with 60.39% of the votes, with Miguel Ángel Mata Zúñiga and David Alonso Carrera Herrera as first and second vice mayors, respectively.^[6]

Mayors of Puriscal since the 2002 elections^[7]
Period	Name	Party
2002–2006	Carlos Araya Jiménez	PLN
2006–2010	Jorge Luis Chaves Gutiérrez
2010–2016	Manuel Espinoza Campos
2016–2020	Luis Madrigal Hidalgo	PUSC
2020–2024	Iris Cristina Arroyo Herrera	PLN
2024–2028	Iris Cristina Arroyo Herrera	PLN

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Puriscal's Municipal Council has 7 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor (regidor propietario) is absent.^[5] The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024–2028 period is as follows:

Current composition of the Municipal Council of Puriscal after the 2024 municipal elections^[8]
Political parties in the Municipal Council of Puriscal

Political party		Regidores
Political party		№	Owner	Substitute
	National Liberation Party (PLN)	3	Santiago Castro Fallas	Giovanni Mora Rodríguez
			Mireya Mora Jiménez	Mariangel Mora Herrera
			José Pablo Fernández Soto	Mario Chacón Rubí
	Puriscal on the Move (PM)	1	Orlando Fernández Fernández	Michael Hernán Fernández Guerrero
	Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC)	1	Gloriana Bermúdez Durán	Priscilla Vanessa Aguilar Jiménez

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	±% p.a.
1883	1,942	—
1892	6,845	+15.02%
1927	13,329	+1.92%
1950	16,743	+1.00%
1963	23,690	+2.71%
1973	24,150	+0.19%
1984	23,123	−0.39%
2000	29,407	+1.51%
2011	33,004	+1.05%
2022	38,525	+1.42%
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos^[9] Centro Centroamericano de Población^[10]