Barva

Barva
District
Barva Church
Barva district
Barva Barva district location in Costa Rica
Coordinates: 10.0203917°N 84.1233912°W / 10.0203917; -84.1233912
Country	Costa Rica
Province	Heredia
Canton	Barva
Area
• Total	0.82 km^2 (0.32 sq mi)
Elevation	1,176 m (3,858 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	4,997
• Density	6,100/km^2 (16,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−06:00
Postal code	40201
Climate	Am

Barva is a district of the Barva canton, in the Heredia province of Costa Rica.[1][2] The city is known for having a nice mix of rural and metropolitan landscape.

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.[3][4]
• Bal (town) and wac (anteater), meaning Anteater Town, according to Luis Ferrero.[4]
• Bar or bur (bees) with ba or bac (tribe), meaning Bees Tribe, as explained by bishop Bernardo Augusto Thiel y Hoffmann in late 19th century, from sources from 1575 and 1599.[4]

By Decree 188 of 4 October 1974, the name changes from Barba to Barva.

Geography

Barva has an area of 0.82 km²[5] and an elevation of 1,176 metres.[1]

It is located 3 km north of Heredia.

Culture

Patron saint and mask festival

The patron saint of the town is Saint Bartholomew. A large church, Iglesia de San Bartolomé de Barva, was established between 1568 and 1575 is in Barva. Every year on August 24, the people of the town have a celebration dedicated to the saint, and the highlight of the celebration is the unique masquerade, where people go out wearing masks and hit others with cow and pig bladders.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	±% p.a.
1864	708	—
1883	1,057	+2.13%
1892	912	−1.63%
1927	831	−0.27%
1950	1,116	+1.29%
1963	1,938	+4.34%
1973	3,131	+4.91%
1984	3,911	+2.04%
2000	4,890	+1.41%
2011	4,997	+0.20%
2022	4,419	−1.11%
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos[6] Centro Centroamericano de Población[7]

For the 2011 census, Barva had a population of 4,997 inhabitants.[8]

Transportation

Road transportation

The district is covered by the following road routes:

• National Route 119
• National Route 126

Notable people

• Bernardo Rodríguez y Alfaro

References

1. "Declara oficial para efectos administrativos, la aprobación de la División Territorial Administrativa de la República N°41548-MGP". Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (in Spanish). 19 March 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
2. División Territorial Administrativa de la República de Costa Rica (PDF) (in Spanish). Editorial Digital de la Imprenta Nacional. 8 March 2017. ISBN 978-9977-58-477-5.
3. Gagini, Carlos (1917). Los aborigenes de Costa Rica.
4. 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.
5. "Área en kilómetros cuadrados, según provincia, cantón y distrito administrativo". Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
6. "Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos" (in Spanish).
7. Centro Centroamericano de Población de la Universidad de Costa Rica. "Sistema de Consulta a Bases de Datos Estadísticas" (in Spanish).
8. "Censo. 2011. Población total por zona y sexo, según provincia, cantón y distrito". Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2020.