Guanacaste

Guanacaste is the north-western province of Costa Rica, on the Pacific coast and the border with Nicaragua. Its capital is Liberia, and Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR) is about 13 km south-west of the city.

Liberia is known as the White City, for its whitewashed houses and gravel streets. The guanacaste tree, which shares the province's name, was declared Costa Rica's national tree in 1959, and in Guaitil, in the canton of Santa Cruz, artisans make pottery in the Chorotega tradition.

On 25 July 1824 the towns of the Partido de Nicoya, Nicoya, Santa Cruz and Guanacaste, decided to join Costa Rica; the Annexation of the Partido de Nicoya is a national holiday. On 20 March 1856 the Battle of Santa Rosa was fought at La Casona, the old hacienda house that now stands in Santa Rosa National Park.

The Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, includes Santa Rosa National Park and Rincon de la Vieja, which rises to 1,916 metres. Palo Verde National Park, in Bagaces, protects wetlands of international importance.

The coast is the province's other face. Tamarindo stands on the bay where Las Baulas National Marine Park protects the nesting beaches of the leatherback turtle, and the shore continues south to Samara on the Nicoya Peninsula.