San Mateo is the capital city of the canton of San Mateo

San Mateo Canton

San Mateo is the name of the fourth canton in the province of Alajuela in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of , and has a population of 5,643 . The capital city of the canton is also called San Mateo....

 in the province of Alajuela

Alajuela Province

Alajuela is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua to the north, and clockwise the provinces Heredia, San José, Puntarenas and Guanacaste...

 in Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

. It is also the name of the distrito (district) that includes the city. The district of San Mateo covers an area of 64.89 km², and has a population of 2,678.

The city lies at an elevation of 254 meters above sea level in coastal lowlands near the central Pacific coast. It is 31 kilometers east of the port of Caldera, 44 kilometers southwest of the provincial capital city of Alajuela

Alajuela

Alajuela is the second largest city in Costa Rica after the capital, San José. It is also the capital of the namesake province. Because of its location in the Costa Rican Central Valley, Alajuela is nowadays englobed in the conurbation of Great Metropolitan Area...

 and 53 kilometers from the national capital city of San Jose

San José, Costa Rica

San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Located in the Central Valley, San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.Founded in 1738 by order of Cabildo de León, San...

.