1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Limon

LIMON, or Port Limon, the chief Atlantic port of Costa Rica, Central America, and the capital of a district also named Limon, on a bay of the Caribbean Sea, 103 m. E. by N. of San José. Pop. (1904) 3171. Limon was founded in 1871, and is the terminus of the transcontinental railway to Puntarenas which was begun in the same year. The swamps behind the town, and the shallow coral lagoon in front of it, have been filled in. The harbour is protected by a sea-wall built along the low-water line, and an iron pier affords accommodation for large vessels. A breakwater from the harbour to the island of Uvita, about 1200 yds. E. would render Limon a first-class port. There is an excellent water-supply from the hills above the harbour. Almost the entire coffee and banana crops of Costa Rica are sent by rail for shipment at Limon to Europe and the United States. The district (comarca) of Limon comprises the whole Atlantic littoral, thus including the Talamanca country inhabited by uncivilized Indians; the richest banana-growing territories in the country; and the valuable forests of the San Juan valley. It is annually visited by Indians from the Mosquito coast of Nicaragua, who come in canoes to fish for turtle. Its chief towns, after Limon, are Reventazon and Matina, both with fewer than 3000 inhabitants.