Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2017
The Cordillera de Talamanca, the principal mountain range in southeastern Costa Rica, is a rugged chain which overlies, in part at least, an earlier volcanic mass, and is directly connected with the Chiriqui range of western Panama. The Pacific Ocean is, as the crow flies, a comparatively short distance from the Talamancan peaks. From the Rio Savegre in the southwest to the Rio Chiriqui Viejo in Panama runs a smaller parallel chain, known as the Pacific coastal range.