Zona Portuaria – Los Chiles, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica

Los Chiles is the capital city of the canton of Los Chiles in the province of Alajuela in Costa Rica. The city lies at an elevation of 43 meters above sea level on the San Carlos Plain (Llanura de San Carlos) in northern Costa Rica. Los Chiles is a "border town," only four kilometers from Nicaragua. The vast majority of the population of the city was born in Nicaragua. The Río Frío, on the western edge of town, is a major thoroughfare used to access small villages and farms in the surrounding area.

During the 1980s, it was a strategic location on an important supply route for the Contras fighting to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, and during that time military men from the United States were a common (albeit illegal) sight on the streets on the town.