Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Tibás

Canton in San José province, Costa Rica

Tibás is the thirteenth canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The head city of the canton is San Juan.

01History

Tibás was created on 26 June 1914 by decree 31. It was formerly known as San Juan del Murciélago and was meant to be the capital of the country, at least according to ex-president Braulio Carrillo, this is the reason the town was originally designed with such a neat array of perfectly aligned blocks, cut by the streets running from North to South and the avenues from East to West.

02Geography

Tibás has an area of 8.27 km2 (3.19 sq mi) and a mean elevation of 1,140 m (3,740 ft).

The canton forms a northern suburb of the national capital city of San José. It is triangular in shape, with the Virilla River as its northern boundary. The Quebrada Rivera, a canyon, establishes the southwestern limit of the canton and also a portion of the southeastern boundary.

03Government

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, José Alejandro Alvarado Vega, was elected mayor of the canton with 37.17% of the votes, with Liliana María Beer Rodríguez and Olga Courrau Quesada as first and second vice mayors, respectively.

Mayors of Tibás since the 2002 elections
Period Name Party
2002-2006 Percy Kenneth Rodríguez Argüello PUSC
2006-2010 Jorge Antonio Salas Bonilla PAC
2010-2016 Gonzalo Vargas Jiménez PLN
2016-2020 Carlos Luis Cascante Duarte
2020-2024
2024-2028 José Alejandro Alvarado Vega

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Tibás' 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. The current president of the Municipal Council is the Social Democratic Progress Party regidor, Jimmy Villalta Espinoza. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024-2028 period is as follows:

Composition of the Municipal Council of Tibás after the 2024 municipal elections
Political parties in the Municipal Council of Tibás
Political party Regidores
No. Owner Substitute
National Liberation Party (PLN) 3 Dora Alicia Rodríguez Rodríguez Stephanie Patricia Blanco Rojas
Jean Paul Porras Carvajal Arturo Enrique Hernández Martínez
Alejandra Ramón Sánchez María del Milagro Chacón Zamora
Social Democratic Progress Party (PSD) 2 Jimmy Villalta Espinoza(P) Juan Carlos Rodríguez Cruz
Carmen Eugenia Sánchez Avila Irene Patricia Segura Varela
Social Christian Republican Party (PRSC) 1 Manuel René Barboza Chaves Eduardo Emilio Umaña Álvarez
Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) 1 Vivian Roxana Acosta Bonilla Inés Cristina Lascarez Solano

04Districts

The canton of Tibás is subdivided into the following districts:

  1. San Juan
  2. Cinco Esquinas
  3. Anselmo Llorente
  4. León XIII
  5. Colima

05Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.±% p.a.
19274,579,     
195010,594+3.71%
196323,946+6.47%
197335,602+4.05%
198457,693+4.49%
200072,074+1.40%
201164,842−0.96%
202274,592+1.28%
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos
Centro Centroamericano de Población

Tibás had an estimated population of 74,592 people in 2022, up from 64,842 at the time of the 2011 census.

Tibás had a Human Development Index of 0.766 in 2022.

Tibás includes both industrial and residential neighborhoods and is home of a popular football team in Costa Rica, Deportivo Saprissa and its stadium Estadio Ricardo Saprissa.

06Transportation

Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes:

Rail transportation

The Interurbano Line operated by Incofer goes through this canton.

Watch videos about TibásExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Tibás, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.