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CR · Costa Rica

Cantons that have burned most often in Costa Rica

Cantons of Costa Rica with at least one fire larger than 1,000 hectares with a perimeter since 2016: 19. With two or more: 12. Top of the list is Santa Cruz, which has burned 42 times in 10 years, with 75,840 hectares burned inside its boundaries.

By number of fires

  1. 1Santa CruzProvincia Guanacaste42×10 years · 75,840 ha
  2. 2CarrilloProvincia Guanacaste24×10 years · 50,560 ha
  3. 3LiberiaProvincia Guanacaste24×9 years · 35,491 ha
  4. 4BagacesProvincia Guanacaste18×8 years · 32,128 ha
  5. 5La CruzProvincia Guanacaste12×8 years · 19,622 ha
  6. 6PuntarenasProvincia Puntarenas12×8 years · 12,832 ha
  7. 7AbangaresProvincia Guanacaste11×8 years · 12,241 ha
  8. 8NicoyaProvincia Guanacaste10×6 years · 12,830 ha
  9. 9CañasProvincia Guanacaste5×4 years · 1,497 ha
  10. 10TurrubaresProvincia San José4×3 years · 2,873 ha
  11. 11Los ChilesProvincia Alajuela3×1 year · 3,456 ha
  12. 12OrotinaProvincia Alajuela3×2 years · 2,290 ha
  13. 13Buenos AiresProvincia Puntarenas1×1 year · 1,269 ha
  14. 14AserríProvincia San José1×1 year · 1,214 ha
  15. 15AtenasProvincia Alajuela1×1 year · 668 ha
  16. 16NandayureProvincia Guanacaste1×1 year · 142 ha
  17. 17GarabitoProvincia Puntarenas1×1 year · 33 ha
  18. 18San MateoProvincia Alajuela1×1 year · 33 ha
  19. 19AcostaProvincia San José1×1 year · 4 ha

By hectares burned

  1. 1Santa CruzProvincia Guanacaste75,840 ha42× · 56 %
  2. 2CarrilloProvincia Guanacaste50,560 ha24× · 84 %
  3. 3LiberiaProvincia Guanacaste35,491 ha24× · 24 %
  4. 4BagacesProvincia Guanacaste32,128 ha18× · 25 %
  5. 5La CruzProvincia Guanacaste19,622 ha12× · 14 %
  6. 6PuntarenasProvincia Puntarenas12,832 ha12× · 6.7 %
  7. 7NicoyaProvincia Guanacaste12,830 ha10× · 9.5 %
  8. 8AbangaresProvincia Guanacaste12,241 ha11× · 19 %
  9. 9Los ChilesProvincia Alajuela3,456 ha3× · 2.6 %
  10. 10TurrubaresProvincia San José2,873 ha4× · 6.9 %
  11. 11OrotinaProvincia Alajuela2,290 ha3× · 16 %
  12. 12CañasProvincia Guanacaste1,497 ha5× · 2.2 %
  13. 13Buenos AiresProvincia Puntarenas1,269 ha1× · 0.5 %
  14. 14AserríProvincia San José1,214 ha1× · 7.2 %
  15. 15AtenasProvincia Alajuela668 ha1× · 5.3 %
  16. 16NandayureProvincia Guanacaste142 ha1× · 0.2 %
  17. 17GarabitoProvincia Puntarenas33 ha1× · 0.1 %
  18. 18San MateoProvincia Alajuela33 ha1× · 0.3 %
  19. 19AcostaProvincia San José4 ha1× · 0.0 %

By share of the municipality (10 km² or more)

  1. 1CarrilloProvincia Guanacaste84 %50,560 ha · 605 km²
  2. 2Santa CruzProvincia Guanacaste56 %75,840 ha · 1,344 km²
  3. 3BagacesProvincia Guanacaste25 %32,128 ha · 1,285 km²
  4. 4LiberiaProvincia Guanacaste24 %35,491 ha · 1,458 km²
  5. 5AbangaresProvincia Guanacaste19 %12,241 ha · 653 km²
  6. 6OrotinaProvincia Alajuela16 %2,290 ha · 147 km²
  7. 7La CruzProvincia Guanacaste14 %19,622 ha · 1,419 km²
  8. 8NicoyaProvincia Guanacaste9.5 %12,830 ha · 1,352 km²
  9. 9AserríProvincia San José7.2 %1,214 ha · 169 km²
  10. 10TurrubaresProvincia San José6.9 %2,873 ha · 419 km²
  11. 11PuntarenasProvincia Puntarenas6.7 %12,832 ha · 1,906 km²
  12. 12AtenasProvincia Alajuela5.3 %668 ha · 127 km²
  13. 13Los ChilesProvincia Alajuela2.6 %3,456 ha · 1,335 km²
  14. 14CañasProvincia Guanacaste2.2 %1,497 ha · 689 km²
  15. 15Buenos AiresProvincia Puntarenas0.5 %1,269 ha · 2,400 km²
  16. 16San MateoProvincia Alajuela0.3 %33 ha · 125 km²
  17. 17NandayureProvincia Guanacaste0.2 %142 ha · 577 km²
  18. 18GarabitoProvincia Puntarenas0.1 %33 ha · 322 km²
  19. 19AcostaProvincia San José0.0 %4 ha · 344 km²

How it is calculated

We count fires larger than 1,000 hectares with a perimeter since 2016 that reached each municipality, even partly. Hectares are those burned inside the municipality and are added fire by fire, so land that burned twice counts twice; that is why the share, given only for municipalities of 10 km² or more, can exceed 100 % (it is then shown as a multiple). It describes what happened: it does not measure risk or say anything about causes.