1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alajuela

ALAJUELA, the capital of the province of Alajuela, in Costa Rica, Central America, on the transcontinental railway, 15 m. W. of San José. Pop. (1904) 4860. Alajuela is built at the southern base of the volcano of Poas (8895 ft.) and overlooks the fertile plateau of San José. Its central square, adorned with a handsome bronze fountain, contains the municipal buildings, and a large but unattractive cathedral. The town covers a considerable area; the detached white houses of its suburbs are surrounded by trees and flowering shrubs. Alajuela is the centre of the Costa Rican sugar trade, and an important market for coffee. Its products are exported from Puntarenas, on the Pacific Ocean, 32 m. W. The province of Alajuela includes the territory of the Guatusos Indians, along the northern frontier; the towns of Atenas, Grecia, Naranjo and San Ramon (all with less than 5000 inhabitants), and the gold-mines of Aguacate, a little north of Atenas.