Puriscal is the 4th canton in the province of San José, Costa Rica. The head city of the canton is Santiago.
In Spanish, a is the flower of the common bean. A is a field of flowering beans.
Puriscal canton was established by decree on 7 August 1868.
Puriscal has an area of and a mean elevation of .
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.
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, Iris Cristina Arroyo Herrera, was elected mayor of the canton with 60.39% of the votes, with Miguel ÃÂngel Mata Zúñiga and David Alonso Carrera Herrera as first and second vice mayors, respectively.
Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called ) 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 () is absent. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024âÂÂ2028 period is as follows:
Puriscal had an estimated population of people in 2022, up from at the time of the 2011 census.
Puriscal had a Human Development Index of 0.755 in 2022. Its Multidimensional Poverty Index in 2023 was 0.072.
Only 18% of the canton's population live in urban areas. Among its inhabitants, 20.2% are under ten, and 7.4% are over 65.
The canton of Puriscal is subdivided into the following districts:
The following road routes cover the canton: