The canton San José is the number 1 canton of the province of San José, Costa Rica. The canton contains the Costa Rican capital, although the influence of the same manifested in territorial extension and population far exceeds the cantonal dimensions, in what is called the Greater Metropolitan Area. The canton of San José constitutes the central nucleus of the country and its zone of greater development. It has an area of approximately 45 km2, which represents 0.09% of the entire national territory. It presents an elongated shape of 15 kilometers long southeast-northwest and an average width of 3 km from north to south.
It is the most populated canton in the country, with 342 188 inhabitants according to the 2011 Census, with an urban population of 100% and a density of 6,456 inhabitants per square kilometer, the second in the country after Tibás.72% of the cantonal population lives in the districts of Pavas, La Uruca, San Sebastián and Hatillo, with Pavas being the district with the highest population density, around 12,000 inhabitants per km², above the cantonal density. José was ranked 56 in the 2016 Cantonal File of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The canton of San José is located in the north of the province, bounded on the north by the cantons of Belén, Heredia and Santo Domingo, as well as with the cantinas Joséfinos de Tibás and Goicoechea. With Montes de Oca and Curridabat to the east. And with Desamparados, Alajuelita and Escazú to the south.