San José
Capital of Costa Rica, and of San José province; population (2000) 309,700. It is situated in the broad fertile valley of the central plateau. Products include coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. There is a cathedral, and the University of Costa Rica, which was founded in 1843. San José was founded in 1737 and became capital in 1823, replacing the former capital Cartago because it had a better all-year-round climate.
San José
City in Santa Clara County, California, at the head of the southern arm of San Francisco Bay; population (2000 est) 894,900. It is situated at one end of ‘Silicon Valley’, the site of many high-technology electronic firms turning out semiconductors and other computer components. There are also electrical, aerospace, missile, rubber, metal, and machine industries, and it is a commercial and transportation centre for orchard crops and wines produced in the area.
History
It was founded in 1777 as
El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, a Spanish military supply base. The US flag was raised here in 1846 and the town was incorporated in 1850. It served as the state capital 1849–51.
Features The Mission of Santa Clara de Asis, also founded in 1777, is sited on the grounds of San José State University(1857), a foundation run by the Jesuit Roman Catholic order. Lick Observatory is on nearby Mount Hamilton. Other features include the Tech Museum of Innovation, the San José Children's Museum, and the San José Museum of Art. |
| The population increased more than sixfold between 1950 and 1980, when the city was transformed from an agricultural to an industrial centre, encroaching on the fruit orchards of the surrounding Santa Clara valley. |
San José
| Department in southern Uruguay, situated to the northwest of Montevideo; area 6,963 sq km/2,688 sq mi; population (1996) 88,020. It is mainly cattle- and sheep- ranching country. It is served by an extensive highway network. |
San José
| Town in Uruguay in the department of the same name, 75 km/47 mi northwest of Montevideo; population (1996) 62,598. San José was Uruguay's provisional capital in the early days of independence. |
| San José has one of the finest churches in Uruguay. There is a statue here to the Uruguayan patriot and freedom fighter José Gervasio Artigas, who fought for the country's independence in the early 19th century. |
