San José

San José is the capital and largest city of . The undisputed cultural and economic center of Costa Rica's central valley, where most of the population lives, San José is also the most important transportation hub for domestic travel even though the international airport is in .
Tap on a place
to explore it
Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
  • Type: City with 342,000 residents
  • Description: capital of Costa Rica
  • Also known as: San Jose”, “San José, Costa Rica”, and “Villa Nueva de la Boca del Monte de Nuestro Señor San José

Places of Interest

Highlights include National Theatre of Costa Rica and Biblioteca Nacional "Miguel Obregón Lizano".

Theater building
The 1,140-seat is 's national theatre, located in the central section of San José. Construction began in 1891, and it opened to the public on 21 October 1897 with a performance of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust.

Library
La Biblioteca Nacional "Miguel Obregón Lizano", also known as the Biblioteca Nacional de Costa Rica is the national library of in San José. It is tasked with curating the cultural heritage of Costa Rica and maintains three copies of every book ever published in the country in addition to other works.

Museum
The is an archaeological museum in San José, . Since 2014, it has been located in front of Plaza de la Democracia. It was founded in 1977 by Fidel Tristán Castro, the first president of the INS.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include San Sebastián and Hatillo.

Village
Photo: ArquiWHAT, Public domain.
is the eleventh district of the San José canton, in the province of . An important residential district, is the third most populous and second most densely populated in the canton.

Village
is the tenth district of the San José canton, in the province of .

Village
is the seventh district of the San José canton, in the province of . It is an important industrial and commercial area of San José.

San José

Latitude
9.9325° or 9° 55′ 57″ north
Longitude
-84.0796° or 84° 4′ 47″ west
Population
342,000
Elevation
1,133 metres (3,717 feet)
IATA airport code
SJO
United Nations Location Code
CR SJO
Open location code
66XQWWMC+25
Open­Street­Map ID
node 197698100
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­city
Geo­Names ID
3621849
Wiki­data ID
Q3070
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover San José from above in high-definition satellite imagery.

In Other Languages

From Abkhazian to Zulu—“San José” goes by many names.
  • Abkhazian: Сан-Хосе
  • Achinese: San José
  • Afrikaans: San José, Costa Rica
  • Albanian: San Hose
  • Albanian: San José
  • Amharic: ሳን ሆዜ፣ ኮስታ ሪካ
  • Amharic: ሳን ሆዜ
  • Arabic: سان خوسيه، كوستاريكا
  • Arabic: سان خوسيه
  • Aragonese: San José
  • Armenian: Սան Խոսե
  • Asturian: San José
  • Asturian: San Xosé
  • Aymara: San Jusiy
  • Azerbaijani: San-Xose
  • Balinese: San José, Kosta Rika
  • Basque: San Jose
  • Basque: San José
  • Belarusian: Сан-Хасэ
  • Bengali: সানজোসে
  • Bengali: স্যান হোসে, কোস্টা রিকা
  • Bengali: স্যান হোসে
  • Bosnian: San Jose, Kostarika
  • Bosnian: San Jose
  • Bosnian: San José
  • Breton: San José
  • Bulgarian: Сан Хосе
  • Catalan: San José
  • Cebuano: San José, Costa Rica
  • Chechen: Сан-Хосе (Коста-Рика)
  • Chechen: Сан-Хосе
  • Chinese: San José
  • Chinese: 圣何塞
  • Chinese: 聖何塞
  • Chinese: 聖荷西
  • Croatian: San José, Kostarika
  • Croatian: San José
  • Czech: San José
  • Danish: San José
  • Dutch: San José
  • Egyptian Arabic: سان خوسيه, كوستاريكا
  • Esperanto: San-Joseo
  • Estonian: San José
  • Fiji Hindi: San José
  • Finnish: San José
  • French: San José (Costa Rica)
  • French: San Jose
  • French: San José
  • Galician: San José
  • Galician: San Xosé, Costa Rica
  • Galician: San Xosé
  • Georgian: სან-ხოსე
  • German: San José (Costa Rica)
  • German: San Jose
  • German: San José
  • Greek: Σαν Χοσέ
  • Gujarati: સેન હોસે
  • Haitian: San Jozé
  • Hakka Chinese: San José
  • Hausa: San José
  • Hebrew: סאן חוסה
  • Hebrew: סן חוסה
  • Hindi: सान होज़े
  • Hindi: सैन जोस
  • Hungarian: San José de Costa Rica
  • Hungarian: San José
  • Icelandic: San José
  • Ido: San Jose
  • Ido: San-Jose
  • Iloko: San José, Costa Rica
  • Indonesian: San José, Costa Rica
  • Indonesian: San José, Kosta Rika
  • Indonesian: San José
  • Interlingue: San José
  • Irish: San José, Cósta Ríce
  • Italian: San José
  • Jamaican Creole English: San Ose
  • Japanese: サンホセ
  • Kabyle: San José
  • Kannada: ಸ್ಯಾನ್ ‍ಹೋಸೆ
  • Kara-Kalpak: San Xose
  • Kazakh: ‘Қасиетті Жүсіп’ қаласы
  • Kazakh: Сан Хосе қаласы
  • Kazakh: Сан Хосе
  • Kazakh: Сан-Хосе (Коста-Рика)
  • Kazakh: Сан-Хосе
  • Korean: 산호세
  • Korean: 싼호세
  • Kurdish: San José
  • Ladino: San José
  • Latin: Urbs Sancti Iosephi in Costarica
  • Latvian: Sanhosē
  • Ligurian: San José
  • Lingala: San José
  • Lithuanian: San Chosė
  • Livvi: San-Hose
  • Lombard: San José
  • Luxembourgish: San José (Costa Rica)
  • Luxembourgish: San José
  • Macedonian: Сан Хозе
  • Macedonian: Сан Хосе
  • Malagasy: San José, Costa Rica
  • Malay: San Jose
  • Malay: San José
  • Malayalam: സാൻ ഹോസെ, കോസ്റ്റ റീക
  • Maltese: San Jose
  • Maltese: San José
  • Maltese: San Josè
  • Marathi: सान होजे, कोस्टा रिका
  • Marathi: सान होजे
  • Min Dong Chinese: San José
  • Min Nan Chinese: San José (Costa Rica)
  • Minangkabau: San José, Kosta Rika
  • Mingrelian: სან-ხოსე
  • Moksha: Сан Хосэ
  • Moksha: Сан-Хосэ
  • Mongolian: Сан-Хосе
  • Moroccan Arabic: سان خوسي
  • Moroccan Arabic: سان خوصي
  • Nauru: San José
  • Northern Frisian: San José (Costa Rica)
  • Northern Frisian: San José
  • Northern Sami: San José
  • Norwegian Bokmål: San José
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: San José i Costa Rica
  • Norwegian: San José
  • Novial: San José
  • Occitan (post 1500): San José
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): Sanct Iosepburg, Weligrima
  • Ossetian: Сан-Хосе
  • Panjabi: ਸਾਨ ਹੋਸੇ
  • Papiamento: San Jose
  • Persian: سان خوزه
  • Persian: سن خوزه، کاستاریکا
  • Piemontese: San José
  • Polish: San José
  • Portuguese: San José, Costa Rica
  • Portuguese: San Jose
  • Portuguese: San José
  • Portuguese: São José, Costa Rica
  • Portuguese: São José
  • Quechua: San José
  • Romanian: San José, Costa Rica
  • Romanian: San José
  • Russian: Сан-Хосе
  • Sakizaya: Senhesi “kesetaliciya”
  • Sardinian: San José (Costa Rica)
  • Sardinian: San José
  • Scots: San José, Costa Rica
  • Scots: San Jose
  • Scots: San José
  • Scottish Gaelic: San José, Costa Rica
  • Serbian: Сан Хосе
  • Serbo-Croatian: San José, Kostarika
  • Serbo-Croatian: San José
  • Shona: San José
  • Silesian: San José
  • Sindhi: سان هوز
  • Sinhala: සැන් ජොසේ
  • Slovak: San José
  • Slovenian: San Jose
  • Slovenian: San José
  • Spanish: Chepe
  • Spanish: San Jose
  • Spanish: San José
  • Swahili: San Jose
  • Swedish: San José, Costa Rica
  • Swedish: San Jose
  • Swedish: San José
  • Swiss German: San José (Costa Rica)
  • Swiss German: San José
  • Tagalog: San José, Costa Rica
  • Tajik: Сан Ҳосе
  • Tajik: Сан-Хосе (Коста-Рика)
  • Tajik: Сан-Хосе
  • Tamil: சான் ஒசே
  • Tamil: சான் ஹொசே, கோஸ்ட்டா ரிக்கா
  • Tamil: சான் ஹொசே
  • Tamil: ஸேன் ஹோஸே, கோஸ்டா ரிகா
  • Tatar: Сан-Хосе (Коста-Рика)
  • Tatar: Сан-Хосе
  • Telugu: సాన్ హోసె
  • Thai: ซันโฮเซ
  • Thai: ซานโฮเซ
  • Tibetan: སན་ཇོ་སེ།
  • Tosk Albanian: San José
  • Turkish: San José, Kosta Rika
  • Turkish: San José
  • Turkmen: San Hose
  • Udmurt: Сан-Хосе (Коста-Рика)
  • Udmurt: Сан-Хосе
  • Uighur: سان خوسې
  • Ukrainian: Сан-Хосе
  • Urdu: سان خوزے، کوسٹاریکا
  • Urdu: سان خوسے، کوستا ریکا
  • Urdu: سان ہوزے
  • Uzbek: San Xose
  • Uzbek: San-xose
  • Uzbek: San-Xose
  • Venetian: San José
  • Veps: San Hose
  • Vietnamese: San José, Costa Rica
  • Vietnamese: San Jose
  • Vietnamese: San José
  • Volapük: San José
  • Waray (Philippines): San José, Costa Rica
  • Welsh: San José, Costa Rica
  • Western Frisian: San José
  • Western Panjabi: سان جوز
  • Western Panjabi: سان ہوزے, کوسٹاریکا
  • Wu Chinese: 圣何塞(哥斯达黎加)
  • Wu Chinese: 圣何塞
  • Yakut: Сан Хосе
  • Yoruba: San José, Kóstá Rikà
  • Yue Chinese: 聖荷西 (哥斯達黎加)
  • Yue Chinese: 聖荷西
  • Zulu: i-San José
  • San José, Costa Rica

Places with the Same Name

Discover other places named “San José”.

Localities in the Area

Explore places such as Catedral and Dolorosa.

Central Valley: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Alajuela, Heredia, Turrialba, and San Ramon.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “San José”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.