Barva (canton)
Barva is the second canton in the province of Heredia in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 53.80 km²,[1] it is located in 10.020737°N 84.124116°W and has a population of 34,584.[2] The capital city of the canton is also called Barva.
Cantón de Barva | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Costa Rica |
| Province | Heredia |
| Area | |
| • Total | 53.80 km2 (20.77 sq mi) |
| Population (May 1, 2003) | |
| • Total | 34,584 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (PST) |
According to Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. In 2011 Barva had a population of 40,660 residents. The town has a high literacy rate of (99%), and by 2012 it had a high rate of human development of (0.829) United Nations Development Program.[3]
La zona montañosa del cantón es propicia para la agricultura, principalmente el cultivo del café en las faldas del Barva Volcano, Milk production livestock is also given. The canton of Barva has a large quantity of aquifers that supply the Greater Metropolitan Area.
The mountainous region of the canton, where the lagoon of the Barva volcano is located, is part of the area protected by the Braulio Carrillo National Park. Barva is also the access point to the Poás Volcano National Park, the most visited in the country.
The elongated canton climbs from the city of Barva on the outskirts of the capital city of Heredia up the slopes of the dormant Barva Volcano, with the mountain's summit serving as its northern boundary.
The origin of the name "Barva" comes from the indigenous leader named "Barvak", which was already given to the region before the arrival of the Spanish colonization. The city of Barva is known for its mix between rural and urban. The historic center of the city has several adobe houses Colonial style classic architecture. The Saint "patron of the city" is San Bartolomé, reason why the catholic church was named in honor to Saint Bartolome's Church.
Barva is one of the cantons where the traditional Costa Rican masquerade has a great height.
The canton of Barva is subdivided into 6 distritos (districts).
- Barva
- San Pedro
- San Pablo
- San Roque
- Santa Lucía
- San Jose de la Montaña
Toponymy
The name comes from Barvac or Barvak a cacique of the area around 1569, which in turn might come from either:
- From New Tlapallan in Nahuatl language, or Tla pallapan, which in Huetar language was Tabaraba or Abaraba, hispanicized as Barba and meaning Black River or Dark River as explained by José Fidel Tristán in 1910.[4][5]
- Bal (town) and wac (anteater), meaning Anteater Town, according to Luis Ferrero.[5]
- Bar or bur (bees) with ba or bac (tribe), meaning Bees Tribe, as explained by bishop Bernardo Augusto Thiel y Hoffmann in late ⅩⅨ century, from sources from 1575 and 1599.[5]
By Decree 188 of 4 October 1974, the name changes from Barba to Barva.
History
Barva was first mentioned as a canton in a decree dated December 7, 1848.
The territory that today corresponds to the name of “Canton of Barva de Heredia” was part of the Huetar's Indian Kingdom Reino Huetar de Occidente of the West part of Costa Rica, where the cacique named “BarvaK” had his settlement, whose name was extended to the region between the Virilla's River río Virilla and the mountains of “Monte de Aguacate”, which was called Barva (Valle de Barva). On the slopes of the volcanoes Barva Barva Volcano and Poás Poás Volcano National Park there were also settlements of the indigenous ethnic group of botos botos.
References
- Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), 2001.
- Estimates of Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC), May 2003.
- "Copia archivada". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
- Gagini, Carlos (1917). Los aborigenes de Costa Rica.
- Guillermo E. Alvarado Induni; Oscar Luis Chavarría-Aguilar, Guillermo E Alvarado Induni (2005). Costa Rica: Land of Volcanoes. EUNED. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-9968-31-366-7.
