Desamparados is the 3rd canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 118.26 km², and has a population of 206,708, making it the third most populated among the 81 cantons of Costa Rica. The canton's capital city is also called Desamparados.
The canton begins in the southern suburbs of the national capital city of San José, with the Río Tiribí marking its northern boundary. It snakes its way south as a backward ´S´, finally reaching its southern limit at the Río Tarrazú. It contains the bigger of the last forest lungs in the metropolitan area of the Costa Rican capital, the Loma Salitral, which conservation issues have generated social conflicts between community environmentalists and immobility developers, as it is seen as an identity mark of the desamparadeño people and a vital infiltration area to prevent the frequents and disastrous floods in the district of Gravilias.Urban areas claim 80.4% of the canton's population. Those under age 10 comprise 19.8% of its inhabitants, while 5.1% are over 65.
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