Limon

The majority of its territory is situated in the country’s Caribbean lowlands, though the southwestern portion houses part of an extensive mountain range known as the Cordillera de Talamanca. The province shares its northern border with Nicaragua via the Río San Juan, its western borders with the provinces of Heredia, Cartago, and Puntarenas, and its southern border with Panama via the Río Sixaola. Within the province there are six cantons, or counties, which include Pococí, Guácimo, Siquirres, Matina, Limón, and Talamanca. Each cantón has several local districts.

Limón is one of the most culturally diverse of Costa Rica’s provinces, housing a significant Afro-Caribbean and indigenous population. Several languages (Spanish, Limón Creole) are spoken, and due mainly to its cultural ties to the Caribbean islands, dishes like rice and beans are ubiquitous throughout the province, along with reggae, calypso, and soca music (see “Demographics”).

The capital is Puerto Limón, and other important cities include Siquirres, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, and Guápiles.

Locals refer to themselves as limonenses.

Cultural Events

Every second week of October, Puerto Limón hosts a festival called carnaval. The event’s start is credited to local community leader and activist, Alfred Josiah Henry Smith (known as “Mister King”), who helped organize the first carnaval in October 1949.^[21] The event coincides with Columbus Day (known locally as Día de la Raza) on October 12, and traditionally lasts for a little over a week (to include two weekends). Activities include parades, food, music, dancing, and, on the last night, a concert headed by a major Latino/Caribbean music act in the Parque Vargas. Previous headliners have included Eddy Herrera (2002), Damian Marley (2003), El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico (2005), and T.O.K. (2006).

The festival goes on rain or shine, though at times it is susceptible to local emergencies: Event planners cancelled carnaval in 2007 due to a major dengue outbreak that afflicted all of Limón, and again in 2008 due to an epidemic trash-removal problem that has since been resolved.^[22][23]