Alajuela Province

Alajuela Province (population 1 million) is Costa Rica's gateway and agricultural powerhouse—a 10,000 km² territory spanning from the international airport to active volcanoes, from coffee fincas to medical device factories. Juan Santamaría International Airport handled a record 2.6 million tourists in 2024 across 20 gates and 24 airlines, making this province the first and last impression for most visitors. Beyond the airport, Alajuela represents Costa Rica's economic diversification in miniature: traditional coffee and sugarcane cultivation coexists with free trade zone parks housing Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Abbott manufacturing medical devices for export. The volcanic chain of the Cordillera Central—including active Arenal and Poás—creates both the fertile soils that enabled coffee prosperity and the adventure tourism that draws visitors to La Fortuna. Named after Juan Santamaría, the drummer boy national hero who died defending Costa Rica in 1856, the province embodies the country's transformation from agricultural republic to Latin America's second-largest high-tech exporter.