city and port, western Costa Rica. It is located on a long spit of land protruding into the Gulf of Nicoya (Nicoya, Gulf of) and enclosing Estero Lagoon. First known as Bruselas, in colonial times it linked Costa Rican commerce with Panama and South America. A royal order of 1814 initiated improvement of the harbour facilities; and a cart road from San José, the national capital, was opened in the 1840s. Puntarenas was the shipping centre for most of the Costa Rican coffee (coffee production) that went to Europe around Cape Horn. Later connected with San José by the Pacific Railway, Puntarenas became an increasingly important port for export of bananas and coffee and for imports from the West Coast of the United States. The country's principal fishing port, Puntarenas has facilities for canning and freezing fish and for repairing ships. Completion of modern loading facilities at nearby Caldera Port (11 miles 【18 km】 south), however, helped it surpass Puntarenas as the principal port for international commerce on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Cruise ships now also dock at the nearby port facility of Cárdenas. Numerous beach resorts are nearby, and many residents of the Valle Central vacation in Puntarenas. Pop. (2000 est.) 9,559.