Limón

City in Costa Rica and administrative capital of the province of Limón; population (2000) 56,700. On the east coast, it is the country's main container port and second-largest city, and handles a substantial proportion of Costa Rica's import–export trade, the main exports being coffee, bananas, and cattle. There is also a small-scale tourist industry. An airfield, a railway terminus and oil refineries are located here.

A railway connects the town with San José, 165 km/103 mi to the west, rising to about 1,500 m/5,000 ft. Construction of a series of new roads between San José and Puerto Limón and along the Pacific coast began in 1995.

The town is built on the site of an old Indian village, Carare, which was the landing place of Columbus on his last expedition to America in 1502.

Limón

Province on the east coast of Costa Rica; area 9,189 sq km/3,548 sq mi; population (1996) 255,200. It is bounded on the east by the Caribbean Sea and on the south by Panama. Cacao and bananas are the main commercial crops. The seaport town of Limón is the capital of the province.

Most of the province lies in the coastal lowlands, but its western borders reach into the central plateau, the Meseta Central. The Rio Reventazon, one of Costa Rica's main rivers, flows from the mountains west–east across the province. Other important rivers are the Tortuguero and the Parismina. In the east the climate is tropical with very heavy rainfall.