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45-743: Limón ( Spanish pronunciation: [liˈmon] ), commonly known as Puerto Limón (Port Lemon in English), is a district, the capital city and main hub of Limón Province , as well as of the Limón canton in Costa Rica . It is the seventh largest city in Costa Rica, with a population of over 94,000, and is home to the Afro-Costa Rican community. Part of the community traces its roots to Italian, Jamaican and Chinese laborers who worked on

90-412: A delay in voting rights and a restriction on their movements. Puerto Limón is famous in Costa Rica for its yearly fall festival called Carnaval which occurs the week of   12 October, the date Columbus first anchored off Limón's coast in 1502, on his fourth voyage . The event was started by local community leader and activist, Alfred Josiah Henry Smith (known as "Mister King"), who helped organize

135-486: A higher disposal fee. The situation led to a bottle-neck in trash removal, which, combined with the major dengue breakout, caused organizers to cancel 2008's carnaval as a precautionary measure. Given the severity of the situation, the city bought land in nearby Santa Rosa and, in April 2009, opened its landfill (called El Tomatal). Given the improved situation, Carnaval picked up in 2009 after its two-year hiatus. The district

180-486: A late nineteenth-century railroad project that connected San José to Puerto Limón. Until 1948, the Costa Rican government did not recognize Afro-Caribbean people as citizens and restricted their movement outside Limón province. As a result of this travel ban, this Afro-Caribbean population became firmly established in the region, which influenced decisions not to move even after it was legally permitted. Nowadays, there

225-549: 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

270-529: 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. On August 31, Día del Negro ("day of the black person") is held to showcase the black people in Limón. Everyone wears African garments, and the children and adults play music and dance in the middle of the street to traditional music. Tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate

315-661: A reputation for being more robust, affable, and hard-working than other Africans. The enslaved were from what is now the Gambia (Wolof), Guinea (Malinké), Ghanaian (Ashanti), Benin (specifically Ije / Ararás), and Sudan (Puras). Many of the enslaved were also Minas (i.e. communities from parts of the region extending from Ivory Coast to the Slave Coast), Popo (imported tribes such as Ana and Baribas), Yorubas and Congas (perhaps from Kongasso, Ivory Coast). Enslaved Africans also came from other places, such as neighboring Panama. Throughout

360-582: A week to Limón Airport, beginning in July and costing ₡30,000–₡75,000 ($ 60–$ 150), to increase tourism to Limón Province . The city has a football team, which has had numerous iterations, of which the current one is Limón Black Star . The team plays at the Juan Gobán stadium in downtown Limón. Below follows a list of notables from the city of Limón , Costa Rica . Lim%C3%B3n Province The majority of its territory

405-511: Is Puerto Limón , and other important cities include Siquirres , Puerto Viejo de Talamanca , and Guápiles . Locals refer to themselves as limonenses. Columbus was the first European to visit Limón during his fourth and final voyage to the Americas in 1502, setting anchor near Isla Uvita , just off the shore of present-day Puerto Limón. Due mainly to the region's hot and inhospitable weather and fervent resistance from indigenous groups,

450-471: Is Afro-Caribbean, 7% is indigenous, less than 1% is Chinese, and nearly 75% consider themselves a mix of Afro-Caribbean, indigenous, Chinese, and/or mestizo blood. Spoken languages include Spanish, an English creole called Limonese Creole , Chinese , English, and the indigenous languages of the province's three main groups (the Bribri, KéköLdi, and Babécar). Due mainly to the surge in tourism starting around

495-453: Is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator . There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States, and Okinawa, Japan that fall into the tropical rainforest climate category. They experience high mean annual temperatures, small temperature ranges, and rain that falls throughout the year. Regions with this climate are typically designated Af by

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540-429: Is a significant outflow of Limón natives who move to the country's Central Valley in search of better employment and education. The Afro-Caribbean community speaks Spanish and Limonese Creole , a creole of English. Puerto Limón contains three port terminals, Moín Container Terminal , Port of Limón and Port of Moín , which permit the shipment of Costa Rican exports as well as the anchoring of cruise ships. In 2016,

585-580: Is covered by the following road routes: Limón is served by the Limón International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Pablo Zidar, Limón ), IATA code LIO, an airstrip which is 1,800 m (5,900 ft) long by 30 m (98 ft) wide, two m (6.6 ft) above sea level, on the coast south of the city. The Presidency Ministry announced in June 2011 that Sansa Airlines would begin regular scheduled flights four times

630-492: Is high throughout the months. One day in a tropical rainforest climate can be very similar to the next, while the change in temperature between day and night may be larger than the average change in temperature during the year. When tropical rainforest climates are more dominated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) than the trade winds (and with no or rare cyclones), so usually located near

675-458: 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

720-756: 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

765-510: Is the reason why the majority of the current black population of Costa Rica has English surnames and speaks English with a Jamaican accent. In 1910, Marcus Mosiah Garvey travelled to Puerto Limón, where he worked as a time-keeper for the United Fruit Company for some months, observing that the population of African descent suffered poor conditions. The descendants of Africans in Costa Rica have endured discrimination including

810-570: The 2011 census , Limón had a population of 94,415 inhabitants. The first officially acknowledged arrival of African people who arrived in Costa Rica came with the Spanish conquistadors . Slave trading was common in all the countries conquered by Spain, and in Costa Rica, the first Africans seem to have come from specific sources in Africa– Equatorial and Western regions. The people from these areas were thought of as ideal slaves because they had

855-458: The Köppen climate classification . A tropical rainforest climate is typically hot, very humid, and wet with no dry season . Tropical rainforests have a type of tropical climate (at least 18 C or 64.4 F in their coldest month) in which there is no dry season —all months have an average precipitation value of at least 60 mm (2.4 in). There are no distinct wet or dry seasons as rainfall

900-527: The cantón of Talamanca. Unlike the rest of the country, Limón does not adhere to the dry-wet season cycle. It rains throughout the year, though the driest months tend to occur in September and October. Limón is home to the country's largest concentration of Chinese, Afro-Caribbean and indigenous groups (mainly the Bribri , Kéköldi and Cabécar ). According to the 2000 census, 16% of Limón's population

945-427: The 1970s, Limón is home to a host of foreign expatriates. Among the most common are Americans, Canadians, Nicaraguans, South Americans (mainly Colombian and Ecuadorian), and Europeans (Spanish, Dutch, German, Swiss, and Italian). The United Fruit Company laid the foundation of what keeps the limonense economy going. Although the fruit conglomerate has long been dismantled, banana and plantain exports remain one of

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990-546: The American Henry Meiggs to take on the project, work stopped in 1873 due to financial, logistical, and labor issues. The railroad sat unfinished until the presidency of Próspero Fernández . In 1884, thanks to the effort of the Minister of Public Works, Bernardo Soto , Costa Rica hired Meiggs' nephew, Minor Keith , to renegotiate Costa Rica's debt and complete the project. Native Costa-Ricans comprised

1035-618: The Costa Rican government gave him and the success of the banana sales, Keith eventually founded and grew the enormously lucrative United Fruit Company . Several town names in Limón (mainly in Talamanca) trace their origin to Keith and his associates: Penhurst (just above Cahuita, and actually marked as Penshurt in street signs and local maps), Fields, Olivia, and Margarita (all three lying east of Bribrí, off of route 32). Ever since major development occurred in Limón, an undercurrent of political resentment has been felt between limonenses and

1080-487: The Limón population. Recent major investment initiatives are a break with the past, and may help to improve relations between the Caribbean district and the central valley (see "Economy"). The majority of Limón's land lies at sea level, though its western border sees an increase in altitude due largely to the Cordillera de Talamanca. The province's indigenous populations largely reside in reserves that occupy much of

1125-476: The Spanish tried but eventually gave up the idea of colonizing the Caribbean lowlands and instead opted to exploit the central valley and Pacific regions. Starting in the early 19th century, Afro-Caribbeans from Bocas del Toro (Panama), San Andrés (Colombia), and Nicaragua visited what is now Tortuguero to hunt turtles from May through September. As years passed, these populations eventually settled along

1170-472: The bulk of the labor force as the railroad began construction, though small proportions of Afro-Caribbeans and Chinese were also hired. When the project entered the Caribbean lowlands, however, many workers died from exhaustion and malaria , which prompted Keith to aggressively recruit outside the country, bringing in large numbers of Jamaicans , Chinese, and even Italians to finish the job. Seeking to minimize fixed costs, Keith planted banana crops along

1215-477: The central government. This is especially true for the Afro-Caribbean population, who, until 1948, had to obtain legal permission to leave Limón province, and were not recognized as citizens. Roads and electricity were slow to come to most of the province (the latter did not arrive to Cahuita until late 1976), and the traditional disparity of resources – along with racism – created resentment among some of

1260-546: The centuries, but especially after the emancipation of the slaves in 1824, the black population mixed with other ethnic groups, notably the Indians, and became part of the mainstream culture and ethnicity. The early black population of Matina and Suerre in Limón is not the same population that arrived in the second half of the 19th century. This latter population did not arrive as slaves but as hired workers from Jamaica, and smaller groups from Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. This

1305-402: The coast and founded the towns of Cahuita (named after the sangrillo or cawa tree), Old Harbour (Puerto Viejo), Grape Point (Punta Uva), and Manzanillo (named after the manchineel tree). The Afro-Caribbean population established an amicable trading relationship with the region's indigenous populations, and this cohesive existence laid the foundation for these two groups to eventually become

1350-580: The coast of Puerto Limón. The Atlantic coast, however, was left largely unexplored by Spanish settlers until the 19th century. As early as 1569, Governor Perafán de Rivera gave extensive plots of land, Indians included, in Matina to aristocrats (hidalgos) that helped to finance and support early conquest. Because these aristocrats found out that only a few Indians were available to exploit, they acquired African slaves to plant these lands with cocoa trees (the only feasible crop in these lands). These lands provided

1395-523: The equator, they are also called equatorial climates. Otherwise, when they are more dominated by the trade winds than the ITCZ, they are called tropical trade-wind climates. In pure equatorial climates, the atmospheric pressure is almost constantly low so the horizontal pressure gradient is low. Consequently, the winds are rare and usually weak (except sea and land breezes in coastal areas) while in tropical trade-wind climates, often located at higher latitudes than

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1440-540: The event has recently suffered some setbacks. Organizers cancelled Carnaval in 2007 due to a major dengue fever outbreak, and again in 2008 due to major municipal trash-removal issues and related health worries. While trash removal had long been an issue due to lack of trucks and a 62-mile (100-kilometre) haul to the nearest landfill (in Pococí), the ordered closure of this and other landfills in 2007 meant Puerto Limón had to send trash 135 miles (217 km) to Alajuela and pay

1485-479: The first Carnaval in October 1949. The event stretches about a week (across two weekends), and includes a parade, food, music, dancing, and, on the last night, a concert in the Parque Vargas headlined by a major Latino or Caribbean music act. Previous artists have included Eddy Herrera (2002), Damian Marley (2003), El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico (2005), and T.O.K. (2006). Although the show goes on rain or shine,

1530-536: The government has reported lower drop-out rates over the past few years. Health care is provided for the province by Hospital Dr. Tony Facio Castro . 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. The event coincides with Columbus Day (known locally as Día de la Raza ) on October 12, and traditionally lasts for

1575-430: The government pledged ₡93 million ($ 166,000) for a new cruise ship terminal for Puerto Limón. Health care is provided for the city by Hospital Dr. Tony Facio Castro . Two small islands, Uvita Island and Isla de Pájaros, are just offshore. Limón is the Spanish word for lemon . Puerto is the Spanish word for port (or harbor). Christopher Columbus first dropped anchor in Costa Rica in 1502 at Isla Uvita , just off

1620-467: The lines as a cheap source of food for his work force. After finishing the project, but losing money due to low passenger numbers, Keith placed bananas in the empty cars and shipped them to the United States as a (subsequently successful) business experiment.This railroad was built as an export railroad, not a passenger railroad. Combined with the 800,000 acres (3,200 km ) of Caribbean land

1665-433: The most populous in the province. Limón became accessible to large-scale economic activity and settlement after the government decided to build a railroad from San José to present-day Puerto Limón (or, as the locals call it, Limón). Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez proposed the project in 1870, shortly after his successful coup, as a more efficient means to ship to Europe. Although he secured two English bank loans in 1871 and got

1710-466: The municipality afloat. However, local leaders hope to benefit from the government's recent major investment initiatives in the province. Access to education – especially in Talamanca – is a problem that the government has tried to tackle. Whereas about 45% of limonenses possess a high-school degree (about the national average), only about 22% of talamanqueños (those from Talamanca) have achieved

1755-421: The only source of income to the absentee owners from the capital city of Cartago . Matina gained importance because of the cacao and the presence of African slaves, which made them attractive to pirate incursions. Notorious pirates, Edward Mansvelt and his vice admiral Henry Morgan , arrived at Portete, a small bay between Limón and Moín, in 1666. They proceeded inland to Cartago , the capital of Costa Rica at

1800-661: The region's top sources of income, as well as the ports of Limón and Moín (administered by the government's Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente Atlántica [Japdeva] ), and tourism. Although Limón province ranks third in overall poverty statistics, Talamanca ranks as one of the poorest counties in the country, with a significant portion of its mainly indigenous population of nearly 26,000 residents having spotty access to potable water, electricity, and roads. Two major tourist sites – Cahuita and Puerto Viejo/Manzanillo – exist in Talamanca, and taxes collected from and investment due to tourism help keep

1845-449: The same qualification. Recognizing the tie between education and poverty, the government recently launched the avancemos education initiative, in which poor and at-risk high-school students are eligible for a national scholarship to help pay for school and therefore reduce the chances of dropping out. As of 2009, about 150,000 students receive a stipend (about 47% of the total public-high-school population). Though not officially linked,

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1890-470: The sea. Limón was chosen as the site of a major port, which would facilitate exports of coffee from the Central Valley. Twenty-three residents of Limón working on the docks lost their lives on   3 July 1942, when the cargo ship they were unloading was torpedoed by U-boat U-161 and sank fast at the bottom of the port. Most of the crew was ashore and only one perished. As a district, Limón

1935-457: The time, but were driven away by the inhabitants at Turrialba on   15 April. The pirate army left on   16 April and arrived back in Portete on   23 April. They left Costa Rica and did not return. The town was officially founded in 1854 by Philipp J. J. Valentini under government auspices. In 1867, construction began on an ambitious railroad connecting the highlands to

1980-404: The year averaging around 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). Common to all cities with this climate, Limón has no consistently dry season. Its driest month (September) averages roughly 140 millimetres or 5.5 inches of rainfall while its wettest (December) averages just below 450 millimetres or 18 inches of rain. Limón averages nearly 3,600 millimetres or 140 inches of rainfall annually. For

2025-529: Was last modified on   10 August 1992, by Decreto Ejecutivo 21515-G. Puerto Limón was struck by the 1991 Limon earthquake , which affected the surrounding landscape and coastline. The city has one main hospital. Limón has three port areas. Limón has an area of 59.51 square kilometres (22.98 square miles) and an elevation of three metres (9.8 feet) Limón features a trade wind tropical rainforest climate ( Af ) under Köppen's climate classification . Average temperatures are relatively consistent throughout

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