Wonderful Costa Rica, get informed about the Switzerland of the Central Americas.

Geography

Location is Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, with in the north Nicaragua and in the south Panama. The geographic coordinates are 10 00 N and 84 00 W. If you want to check on the map, look for the map of Central America and the Caribbean.

Area

The total area of Costa Rica, including The Isle of Coco, is 51.100 km² of which 50.660 km² is land and 440 km² is sea. Land boundaries total 639 km of which 309 km is with Nicaragua and 330 km is with Panama. The length of the coastline totals 1.290 km. The lowest point is the Pacific Ocean at 0 m and the highest point is Cerro Chirripo with 3.810 m.

The climate is tropical and subtropical with the dry season running from start of December to end of April and the wet season from May to November. The wet season starts with sunshine during the morning hours and an occasional shower in the afternoon. As the wet season prolongs the showers will increase with long periods of rain during the last two months of the wet season. In the highlands the temperature is cooler than in the coastal plains.

Population

The total population of Costa Rica counts 3.900.000. Costa Ricans have at birth a life expectancy of 76.43. Most of them are of catholic religion (76.3%), with evangelical a good second at 13.7%. The literacy is very high in comparison with other Central American countries with a total of 96% of the population older then 15 years.

The language is Spanish and on the Atlantic side which is very Caribbean oriented, English is spoken as well.

Economy

Tourism, agriculture and electronic exports are the pillars under Costa Rican stable growing economy. The country remains attractive to foreign investment due to the country’s political stability and the high level of education of its inhabitants. Tourism is sharply on the rise, particularly in the northern province of Guanacaste and Nicoya. However, the more traditional export sectors have not kept up due to low coffee prices and overproduction of bananas world wide. Expectation is that with Costa Rica joining the TLC, which is presently under discussion and to be decided within Costa Rican Parliament, the economy will improve substantially. The GDP is US $16.6 billion and the GDP per capita is $4.300.