San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose is the largest city and the capital of Costa Rica.

Geography
San Jose is located in central Costa Rica. It is located on a fertile valley and surrounded by mountains. It lies in the Tropical Zone, the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and has a Tropical savanna climate. The average temperature is 75˚F in January and 75˚F in August, showing little change from the warm temperatures over the year. About a third of Costa Rica's people live here and the province it is located in takes it's name (San Jose). San Jose is further divided into 11 distritos. These are Catedral, El Carmen, Hatillo, Hospital, La Uruca, Mata Redonda, Meire, Pavas, San Francisco de Dos Ríos, San Sebastián, and Zapote.

History
San Jose originated as a small village founded by Spanish traders for much of it's early history. In 1823, Juan Mora Fernández moved the capital to here. Previously to this the capital was located in the town of Cartago which was Costa Rica's capital since colonial times. Post-1823, the population has grown as well as it's rise to prominence above all other cities in Costa Rica, making it the governmental, industrial, and population center of the country.

Urban Layout
San Jose has a very basic layout that looks like a grid system. Streets called calles run from north to south while avenues called avenidas run from east to west. The largset and most important avenue is Avenida Central. It is known as Paseo Colón in it's western portion. Paseo Colon translates into Columbus Stroll. Plaza de Cutura is on the south side of Avenida Central and is the main center of San Jose. Here you will find outdoor markets used in the same ways Americans use super markets. People here sell artwork and street entertainment is common.

Tourist Attractions
The largest park in Costa Rica is La Sabana on Paseo Colon. Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean is said to ave landed here once. The Gold Museum is an underground museum under Plaza de Cultura. It stores many examples of native art, most of which is molded from gold. The Edíficio Metálico are here to. The latter example was constructed by Gustav Eiffel, who also designed structures such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the train station in Maputo. The National Theater which is decorated with mirrors, frescoes, and marble staircases dates to the late 19th century. The Jade Museum has the largest collection of jade from the western hemisphere in the world.Pueblo Antihua is a theme park, the only in Costa Rica.