Which country contains the Nicoya Peninsula?

The country containing the Nicoya Peninsula is Costa Rica.

The Nicoya Peninsula extends into the Pacific Ocean on Costa Rica’s northwestern coast. It is divided between Guanacaste Province in the north and Puntarenas Province in the south, and is the country’s largest peninsula. The Gulf of Nicoya separates much of it from Costa Rica’s mainland, with ferries connecting the peninsula to the port city of Puntarenas.

The area is known for beaches, dry tropical forests, protected habitats and small coastal communities. Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve and several national parks and wildlife refuges protect parts of its land and surrounding waters. Ostional is especially notable for mass nesting events by olive ridley sea turtles, locally called arribadas.

Nicoya is also widely recognized as one of the “Blue Zones” popularized by researcher Dan Buettner, because some communities have reported unusually high rates of longevity. That label is a cultural and demographic observation, not a separate political status. The peninsula is sometimes confused with Nicaragua’s Pacific peninsulas or Panama’s Azuero Peninsula, but Nicoya lies entirely in Costa Rica.