Costa Rica

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For cities in other countries, see Costa Rica, Sinaloa and Costa Rica, Mato Grosso do Sul.
For other uses of "Costa Rica", see Costa Rica (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 10°N 84°W

Republic of Costa Rica

República de Costa Rica (Spanish)

Flag

Coat of arms

Anthem: "Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera" (Spanish)

"Noble fatherland, your beautiful flag"

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Capital San José
and largest city 9°56′N 84°5′W

Official languages Spanish

Recognized  Mekatelyu
regional languages  Bribri
 Patois

Ethnic groups  83.6% White/Castizo or Mestizo

(2011[2])  6.7% Mulatto
 2.4% Amerindian
 1.1% Black (of African descent)
 6.2% Others[1]

Religion 52% Catholic

(2017) [3] 25% Protestant
17% Irreligion
 3% Buddhism and others
3% Unknown

Demonym(s)  Costa Rican

 Tico(a)

Government Unitary presidential constitutional republic

• President Carlos Alvarado

• 1st Vice-President Epsy Campbell Barr
• 2nd Vice-President Marvin Rodríguez

Legislature Legislative Assembly

Independence declared

• from Spain 15 September 1821

• from First Mexican 1 July 1823
Empire
• from the Federal 1838
Republic of
Central America
• Recognized by Spain 10 May 1850
• Constitution 7 November 1949[2]

Area
• Total 51,100 km2 (19,700 sq mi) (126th)
• Water (%) 0.7

Population
• 2016 estimate 4,857,274[4] (123rd)
• Density 220/sq mi (84.9/km2) (107th)

GDP (PPP) 2019 estimate

• Total $92.415 billion[5]
• Per capita $18,182[5]

GDP (nominal) 2019 estimate

• Total $60.459 billion[5]
• Per capita $11,895[5]

Gini (2017) 48.3[6]

high
 HDI (2017) 0.794[7]
high · 63rd

Currency Costa Rican colón (CRC)

Time zone UTC−6 (CST)

Driving side right

Calling code +506

ISO 3166 code CR

Internet TLD .cr

.co.cr

Costa Rica (/ˌkɒstə ˈriːkə/, US: /ˌkoʊstə/ ( listen); Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika]; literally "Rich Coast"),
officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: República de Costa Rica), is a sovereign
state in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the
northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south
of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million[4] in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers
(19,714 square miles). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San
José with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.[8]
Costa Rica is a unitary presidential constitutional republic. It is known for its long-standing and stable
democracy, and for its highly educated workforce, most of whom speak English.[9] The country
spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%.[9] Its
economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance,
corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Many foreign
manufacturing and services companies operate in Costa Rica's Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they
benefit from investment and tax incentives.[10]
Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by indigenous peoples before coming under Spanish rule in the
16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the First
Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the United Provinces of Central America, from which it
formally declared independence in 1847. Since then, Costa Rica has remained among the most
stable, prosperous, and progressive[peacock term] nations in Latin America. Following the brief Costa
Rican Civil War, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few
sovereign nations without a standing army.[11][12][13]
The country has consistently performed favorably in the Human Development Index (HDI), placing
69th in the world as of 2015, among the highest of any Latin American nation.[14] It has also been
cited by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as having attained much
higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, with a better record on
human development and inequality than the median of the region.[15]
Costa Rica also has progressive environmental policies. It is the only country to meet all five UNDP
criteria established to measure environmental sustainability.[16] It was ranked 42nd in the world, and
third in the Americas, in the 2016 Environmental Performance Index,[17] and was twice ranked the
best performing country in the New Economics Foundation's (NEF) Happy Planet Index, which
measures environmental sustainability,[18][19] and was identified by the NEF as the greenest country in
the world in 2009.[20] Costa Rica plans to become a carbon-neutral country by 2021.[21][22][23] By 2016,
98.1% of its electricity was generated from green
sources[24] particularly hydro, solar, geothermal and biomass.[25]
 Contents

 1History
o 1.1Pre-Columbian period
o 1.2Spanish colonization
o 1.3Independence
o 1.4Economic growth in the 19th century
 1.4.120th century
 2Geography
o 2.1Climate
o 2.2Flora and fauna
o 2.3Rivers
 3Economy
o 3.1Trade and foreign investment
o 3.2Tourism
 4Government and Politics
o 4.1Administrative divisions
o 4.2Foreign relations
o 4.3Pacifism
 5Demographics
o 5.1Largest cities
o 5.2Religion
o 5.3Languages
 6Culture
o 6.1Cuisine
o 6.2Sports
 7Education
 8Health
 9See also
 10References
 11Further reading
 12External links

History
Main article: History of Costa Rica
A stone sphere created by the Diquis culture at the National Museum of Costa Rica. The sphere is the icon of
the country's cultural identity.

Pre-Columbian period
Main article: Pre-Columbian history of Costa Rica
Historians have classified the indigenous people of Costa Rica as belonging to the Intermediate
Area, where the peripheries of the Mesoamerican and Andean native cultures overlapped. More
recently, pre-Columbian Costa Rica has also been described as part of the Isthmo-Colombian Area.
Stone tools, the oldest evidence of human occupation in Costa Rica, are associated with the arrival
of various groups of hunter-gatherers about 10,000 to 7,000 years BCE in the Turrialba Valley. The
presence of Clovis culture type spearheads and arrows from South America opens the possibility
that, in this area, two different cultures coexisted.[26]
Agriculture became evident in the populations that lived in Costa Rica about 5,000 years ago. They
mainly grew tubers and roots. For the first and second millennia BCE there were already settled
farming communities. These were small and scattered, although the timing of the transition
from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the main livelihood in the territory is still unknown.[27]
The earliest use of pottery appears around 2,000 to 3,000 BCE. Shards of pots, cylindrical vases,
platters, gourds and other forms of vases decorated with grooves, prints, and some modelled after
animals have been found.[28]
The impact of indigenous peoples on modern Costa Rican culture has been relatively small
compared to other nations, since the country lacked a strong native civilization to begin with. Most of
the native population was absorbed into the Spanish-speaking colonial society through inter-
marriage, except for some small remnants, the most significant of which are
the Bribri and Boruca tribes who still inhabit the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in the
southeastern part of Costa Rica, near the frontier with Panama.
Spanish colonization
The name la costa rica, meaning "rich coast" in the Spanish language, was in some accounts first
applied by Christopher Columbus, who sailed to the eastern shores of Costa Rica during his final
voyage in 1502,[29] and reported vast quantities of gold jewelry worn by natives.[30] The name may
also have come from conquistador Gil González Dávila, who landed on the west coast in 1522,
encountered natives, and appropriated some of their gold.[31]
The Ujarrás historical site in the Orosí Valley, Cartago province. The church was built between 1686 and 1693.

During most of the colonial period, Costa Rica was the southernmost province of the Captaincy
General of Guatemala, nominally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In practice, the captaincy
general was a largely autonomous entity within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica's distance from the
capital of the captaincy in Guatemala, its legal prohibition under Spanish law from trade with its
southern neighbor Panama, then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (i.e. Colombia), and lack of
resources such as gold and silver, made Costa Rica into a poor, isolated, and sparsely-inhabited
region within the Spanish Empire.[32] Costa Rica was described as "the poorest and most miserable
Spanish colony in all America" by a Spanish governor in 1719.[33]
Another important factor behind Costa Rica's poverty was the lack of a significant indigenous
population available for encomienda (forced labor), which meant most of the Costa Rican settlers
had to work on their own land, preventing the establishment of large haciendas (plantations). For all
these reasons, Costa Rica was, by and large, unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish
Crown and left to develop on its own. The circumstances during this period are believed to have led
to many of the idiosyncrasies for which Costa Rica has become known, while concomitantly setting
the stage for Costa Rica's development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors.
Costa Rica became a "rural democracy" with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not
long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil and a milder
climate than that of the lowlands.[34]
Independence
See also: Free State of Costa Rica and First Costa Rican Republic
Like the rest of Central America, Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain. On 15
September 1821, after the final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–21), the
authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. That date is still
celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica[35] even though, technically, under the Spanish
Constitution of 1812 that had been readopted in 1820, Nicaragua and Costa Rica had become an
autonomous province with its capital in León.
Upon independence, Costa Rican authorities faced the issue of officially deciding the future of the
country. Two bands formed, the Imperialists, defended by Cartago and Heredia cities which were in
favor of joining the Mexican Empire, and the Republicans, represented by the cities of San
José and Alajuela who defended full independence. Because of the lack of agreement on these two
possible outcomes, the first civil war of Costa Rica occurred. The Battle of Ochomogo took place on
the Hill of Ochomogo, located in the Central Valley in 1823. The conflict was won by the Republicans
and, as a consequence, the city of Cartago lost its status as the capital, which moved to San
José.[36][37][38]
The 1849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862.

In 1838, long after the Federal Republic of Central America ceased to function in practice, Costa
Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign. The considerable distance and poor
communication routes between Guatemala City and the Central Plateau, where most of the Costa
Rican population lived then and still lives now, meant the local population had little allegiance to the
federal government in Guatemala. From colonial times to now, Costa Rica's reluctance to become
economically tied with the rest of Central America has been a major obstacle to efforts for greater
regional integration.[39]
Economic growth in the 19th century
See also: Liberal State
Coffee was first planted in Costa Rica in 1808,[40] and by the 1820s, it surpassed tobacco, sugar,
and cacao as a primary export. Coffee production remained Costa Rica's principal source of wealth
well into the 20th century, creating a wealthy class of growers, the so-called Coffee Barons.[41] The
revenue helped to modernize the country.[42][43]
Most of the coffee exported was grown around the main centers of population in the Central Plateau
and then transported by oxcart to the Pacific port of Puntarenas after the main road was built in
1846.[43] By the mid-1850s the main market for coffee was Britain.[44] It soon became a high priority to
develop an effective transportation route from the Central Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean. For this
purpose, in the 1870s, the Costa Rican government contracted with U.S. businessman Minor C.
Keith to build a railroad from San José to the Caribbean port of Limón. Despite enormous difficulties
with construction, disease, and financing, the railroad was completed in 1890.[45]
Most Afro-Costa Ricans descend from Jamaican immigrants who worked in the construction of that
railway and now make up about 3% of Costa Rica's population.[46] U.S. convicts, Italians and Chinese
immigrants also participated in the construction project. In exchange for completing the railroad, the
Costa Rican government granted Keith large tracts of land and a lease on the train route, which he
used to produce bananas and export them to the United States. As a result, bananas came to rival
coffee as the principal Costa Rican export, while foreign-owned corporations (including the United
Fruit Company later) began to hold a major role in the national economy and eventually became a
symbol of the exploitative export economy.[47] The major labor dispute between the peasants and the
United Fruit Company (The Great Banana Strike) was a major event in the country's history and was
an important step that would eventually lead to the formation of effective trade unions in Costa Rica,
as the company was required to sign a collective agreement with its workers in 1938.[48][49]
20th century
See also: Reform State
Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability
than many of its fellow Latin American nations. Since the late 19th century, however, Costa Rica has
experienced two significant periods of violence. In 1917–19, General Federico Tinoco
Granados ruled as a military dictator until he was overthrown and forced into exile. The unpopularity
of Tinoco's regime led, after he was overthrown, to a considerable decline in the size, wealth, and
political influence of the Costa Rican military. In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in
the wake of a disputed presidential election between Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (who had been
president between 1940 and 1944) and Otilio Ulate Blanco.[50] With more than 2,000 dead, the
resulting 44-day Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in Costa Rica during the 20th
century.
The victorious rebels formed a government junta that abolished the military altogether, and oversaw
the drafting of a new constitution by a democratically elected assembly.[51] Having enacted these
reforms, the junta transferred power to Ulate on 8 November 1949. After the coup d'état, Figueres
became a national hero, winning the country's first democratic election under the new constitution in
1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 14 presidential elections, the latest in 2018. With
uninterrupted democracy dating back to at least 1948, the country is the region's most stable.[52][53]

Geography
Main articles: Geography of Costa Rica and List of earthquakes in Costa Rica

Costa Rica map of Köppen climate classification

Arenal Volcano

Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, lying between latitudes 8° and 12°N, and
longitudes 82° and 86°W. It borders the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the Pacific Ocean (to the
west), with a total of 1,290 kilometres (800 mi) of coastline, 212 km (132 mi) on the Caribbean coast
and 1,016 km (631 mi) on the Pacific. Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km or
192 mi of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (330 km or 210 mi of border). In total, Costa
Rica comprises 51,100 square kilometres (19,700 sq mi) plus 589 square kilometres (227 sq mi)
of territorial waters.
The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, at 3,819 metres (12,530 ft); it is the fifth highest
peak in Central America. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m or
11,257 ft) and the largest lake is Lake Arenal. There are 14 known volcanoes in Costa Rica, and six
of them have been active in the last 75 years.[54] The country has also experienced at least ten
earthquakes of magnitude 5.7 or higher (3 of magnitude 7.0 or higher) in the last century.
Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island (24 square kilometres or 9.3 square miles)
stands out because of its distance from the continental landmass, 480 kilometres (300 mi)
from Puntarenas, but Isla Calero is the largest island of the country (151.6 square kilometres or 58.5
square miles). Over 25% of Costa Rica's national territory is protected by SINAC (the National
System of Conservation Areas), which oversees all of the country's protected areas. Costa Rica also
possesses the greatest density of species in the world.[55]
Climate
Because Costa Rica is located between 8 and 12 degrees north of the Equator, the climate
is tropical year round. However, the country has many microclimates depending on elevation,
rainfall, topography, and by the geography of each particular region.
Costa Rica's seasons are defined by how much rain falls during a particular period. The year can be
split into two periods, the dry season known to the residents as summer (verano), and the rainy
season, known locally as winter (invierno). The "summer" or dry season goes from December to
April, and "winter" or rainy season goes from May to November, which almost coincides with
the Atlantic hurricane season, and during this time, it rains constantly in some regions.
The location receiving the most rain is the Caribbean slopes of the Cordillera Central mountains,
with an annual rainfall of over 5,000 mm (196.9 in). Humidity is also higher on the Caribbean side
than on the Pacific side. The mean annual temperature on the coastal lowlands is around 27 °C
(81 °F), 20 °C (68 °F) in the main populated areas of the Cordillera Central, and below 10 °C (50 °F)
on the summits of the highest mountains.[56]

hideClimate data for Costa Rica

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
27 27 28 28 27 27 27 27
Average high °C (°F)
(81) (81) (82) (82) (81) (81) (81) (81)
17 18 18 18 18 18 18 18
Average low °C (°F)
(63) (64) (64) (64) (64) (64) (64) (64)
6.3 10.2 13.8 79.9 267.6 280.1 181.5 276.9
Average precipitation mm (inches)
(0.25) (0.40) (0.54) (3.15) (10.54) (11.03) (7.15) (10.90)
Percent possible sunshine 40 37 39 33 25 20 21 22
Source: [57]

Flora and fauna

Further information: Wildlife of Costa Rica
Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas)

Heliconius doris Linnaeus butterfly of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.03%
of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity.[58][59] Around 25% of the country's
land area is in protected national parks and protected areas,[60][61] the largest percentage of protected
areas in the world (developing world average 13%, developed world average 8%).[62][63][64] Costa Rica
has successfully managed to diminish deforestation from some of the worst rates in the world from
1973 to 1989, to almost zero by 2005.[62]
One national park, the Corcovado National Park, is internationally renowned among ecologists for its
biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and is where visitors can expect to see an abundance of
wildlife.[65][66] Corcovado is the one park in Costa Rica where all four Costa Rican monkey species can
be found.[67] These include the white-headed capuchin, the mantled howler, the
endangered Geoffroy's spider monkey,[67][68] and the Central American squirrel monkey, found only on
the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and a small part of Panama, and considered endangered until 2008,
when its status was upgraded to vulnerable. Deforestation, illegal pet-trading, and hunting are the
main reasons for its threatened status.[69]
Tortuguero National Park – the name Tortuguero can be translated as "Full of Turtles" – is home to
spider, howler, and white-throated capuchin monkeys; the three-toed sloth and two-toed sloth; 320
species of birds; and a variety of reptiles. The park is recognized for the annual nesting of the
endangered green turtle, and is the most important nesting site for the species.
Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest there. The Monteverde Cloud Forest
Reserve is home to about 2,000 plant species,[70] including numerous orchids. Over 400 types of
birds and more than 100 species of mammals can be found there.[70]
Over 840 species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica. As is the case in much of Central
America, the avian species in Costa Rica are a mix of North and South American species. The
country's abundant fruit trees, many of which bear fruit year round, are hugely important to the birds,
some of whom survive on diets that consist only of one or two types of fruit. Some of the country's
most notable avian species include the resplendent quetzal, scarlet macaw, three-wattled
bellbird, bare-necked umbrellabird, and the keel-billed toucan.[71] The Instituto Nacional de
Biodiversidad is allowed to collect royalties on any biological discoveries of medical importance.
Costa Rica is a center of biological diversity for reptiles and amphibians, including the world's fastest
running lizard, the spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura similis).[72]
Rivers
Further information: List of rivers of Costa Rica

Economy
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent
events or newly available information. (September 2019)

An Intel microprocessor facility in Costa Rica that was, at one time, responsible for 20% of Costa Rican exports
and 5% of the country's GDP.

Main article: Economy of Costa Rica

The country has been considered economically stable with moderate inflation, estimated at 2.6% in
2017,[73] and moderately high growth in GDP, which increased from US$41.3 billion in 2011 to
US$52.6 billion in 2015.[74] The estimated GDP for 2017 is US$61.5 billion and the estimated GDP
per capita (purchasing power parity) is US$12,382.[73] The growing debt and budget deficit are the
country's primary concerns.[75] A 2017 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development warned that reducing the foreign debt must be a very high priority for the government.
Other fiscal reforms were also recommended to moderate the budget deficit.[76]
Many foreign companies (manufacturing and services) operate in Costa Rica's Free Trade Zones
(FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives.[10] Well over half of that type of
investment has come from the U.S.[77] According to the government, the zones supported over 82
thousand direct jobs and 43 thousand indirect jobs in 2015.[78] Companies with facilities in the
America Free Zone in Heredia, for example, include Intel, Dell, HP, Bayer, Bosch, DHL, IBM and
Okay Industries.[79][80]
Of the GDP, 5.5% is generated by agriculture, 18.6% by industry and 75.9% by
services.(2016)[73] Agriculture employs 12.9% of the labor force, industry 18.57%, services 69.02%
(2016)[81] For the region, its unemployment level is moderately high (8.2% in 2016, according to the
IMF).[73] Although 20.5% of the population lives below the poverty line (2017),[82] Costa Rica has one
of the highest standards of living in Central America.[83]
High quality health care is provided by the government at low cost to the users.[84] Housing is also
very affordable. Costa Rica is recognized in Latin America for the quality of its educational system.
Because of its educational system, Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America,
97%.[85] General Basic Education is mandatory and provided without cost to the user.[86] A US
government report confirms that the country has "historically placed a high priority on education and
the creation of a skilled work force" but notes that the high school drop-out rate is increasing. As
well, Costa Rica would benefit from more courses in languages such as English, Portuguese,
Mandarin and French and also in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).[85]
Trade and foreign investment
Costa Rica has free trade agreements with many countries, including the US. There are no
significant trade barriers that would affect imports and the country has been lowering its tariffs in
accordance with other Central American countries.[87] The country's Free Trade Zones provide
incentives for manufacturing and service industries to operate in Costa Rica. In 2015, the zones
supported over 82 thousand direct jobs and 43 thousand indirect jobs in 2015 and average wages in
the FTZ were 1.8 times greater than the average for private enterprise work in the rest of the
country.[78] In 2016, Amazon.com for example, had some 3,500 employees in Costa Rica and
planned to increase that by 1,500 in 2017, making it an important employer.[9]
The central location provides access to American markets and direct ocean access to Europe and
Asia. The most important exports in 2015 (in order of dollar value) were medical instruments,
bananas, tropical fruits, integrated circuits and orthopedic appliances.[88] Total imports in that year
were US$15 billion. The most significant products imported in 2015 (in order of dollar value) were
refined petroleum, automobiles, packaged medications, broadcasting equipment and computers.
The total exports were US$12.6 billion for a trade deficit of US$2.39 billion in 2015.[88]

A coffee plantation in the Orosí Valley

Pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the
prime industries in Costa Rica's economy. High levels of education among its residents make the
country an attractive investing location. Since 1999, tourism earns more foreign exchange than the
combined exports of the country's three main cash crops: bananas and pineapples especially,[89] but
also other crops, including coffee.[90] Coffee production played a key role in Costa Rica's history and
in 2006, was the third cash crop export.[90] As a small country, Costa Rica now provides under 1% of
the world's coffee production.[43] In 2015, the value of coffee exports was US$305.9 million, a small
part of the total agricultural exports of US$2.7 billion.[89] Coffee production increased by 13.7%
percent in 2015-16, declined by 17.5% in 2016–17, but was expected to increase by about 15% in
the subsequent year.[91]
Costa Rica has developed a system of payments for environmental services.[62] Similarly, Costa Rica
has a tax on water pollution to penalize businesses and homeowners that dump sewage, agricultural
chemicals, and other pollutants into waterways.[92] In May 2007, the Costa Rican government
announced its intentions to become 100% carbon neutral by 2021.[93] By 2015, 93 percent of the
country's electricity came from renewable sources.[94] In 2016, the country produced 98% of its
electricity from renewable sources and ran completely on renewable sources for 110 continuous
days.[95]
In 1996, the Forest Law was enacted to provide direct financial incentives to landowners for the
provision of environmental services.[62] This helped reorient the forestry sector away from commercial
timber production and the resulting deforestation, and helped create awareness of the services it
provides for the economy and society (i.e., carbon fixation, hydrological services such as producing
fresh drinking water, biodiversity protection, and provision of scenic beauty).[62]
A 2016 report by the U.S. government report identifies other challenges facing Costa Rica as it
works to expand its economy by working with companies from the US (and probably from other
countries).[85] The major concerns identified were as follows:

 The ports, roads, railways and water delivery systems would benefit from major upgrading, a
concern voiced by other reports too.[96] Attempts by China to invest in upgrading such aspects
were "stalled by bureaucratic and legal concerns".
 The bureaucracy is "often slow and cumbersome".
Tourism
Main article: Tourism in Costa Rica
See also: List of airports in Costa Rica

Poás Volcano Crater is one of the country's main tourist attractions.

Costa Rica is the most-visited nation in the Central American region,[97] with 2.9 million foreign
visitors in 2016, up 10% from 2015.[98] In 2015, the tourism sector was responsible for 5.8% of the
country's GDP, or $3.4 billion.[99] In 2016, the highest number of tourists came from the United
States, with 1,000,000 visitors, followed by Europe with 434,884 arrivals.[100] According to Costa Rica
Vacations, once tourists arrive in the country, 22% go to Tamarindo, 18% go to Arenal, 17% pass
through Liberia (where the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport is located), 16% go to San
José, the country's capital (passing through Juan Santamaría International Airport), while 18%
choose Manuel Antonio and 7% Monteverde.[101]
By 2004, tourism was generating more revenue and foreign exchange than bananas and coffee
combined.[90][102] In 2016, the World Travel & Tourism Council's estimates indicated a direct
contribution to the GDP of 5.1% and 110,000 direct jobs in Costa Rica; the total number of jobs
indirectly supported by tourism was 271,000.[103]
A pioneer of ecotourism, Costa Rica draws many tourists to its extensive series of national parks
and other protected areas.[104] In the 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Costa Rica
ranked 44th in the world and second among Latin American countries after Mexico in 2011.[105] By
the time of the 2017 report, the country had reached 38th place, slightly behind Panama.[106] The
Ethical Traveler group's ten countries on their 2017 list of The World's Ten Best Ethical Destinations
includes Costa Rica. The country scored highest in environmental protection among the
winners.[107] Costa Rica began reversing deforestation in the 1990s, and they are moving towards
using only renewable energy.[108]

Government and Politics

Main article: Politics of Costa Rica
Administrative divisions
Provinces of Costa Rica

Main article: Administrative divisions of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is composed of seven provinces, which in turn are divided into 81 cantons
(Spanish: cantón, plural cantones), each of which is directed by a mayor. Mayors are chosen
democratically every four years by each canton. There are no provincial legislatures. The cantons
are further divided into 473 districts (distritos). The provinces are:

1. Alajuela
2. Cartago
3. Guanacaste
4. Heredia
5. Limón
6. Puntarenas
7. San José
Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Costa Rica

The extent of Costa Rica's western EEZ in the Pacific

Barack Obama and Laura Chinchilla with Costa Rican children in San José

Costa Rica is an active member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations University of Peace are based in
Costa Rica. It is also a member of many other international organizations related to human
rights and democracy, such as the Community of Democracies. A main foreign policy objective of
Costa Rica is to foster human rights and sustainable development as a way to secure stability and
growth.[109]
Costa Rica is a member of the International Criminal Court, without a Bilateral Immunity
Agreement of protection for the United States military (as covered under Article 98). Costa Rica is an
observer of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
On 10 September 1961, some months after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, Costa
Rican President Mario Echandi ended diplomatic relations with Cuba through Executive Decree
Number 2. This freeze lasted 47 years until President Óscar Arias Sánchez re-established normal
relations on 18 March 2009, saying, "If we have been able to turn the page with regimes as
profoundly different to our reality as occurred with the USSR or, more recently, with the Republic of
China, how would we not do it with a country that is geographically and culturally much nearer to
Costa Rica?" Arias announced that both countries would exchange ambassadors.[110]
Costa Rica has a long-term disagreement with Nicaragua over the San Juan River, which defines
the border between the two countries, and Costa Rica's rights of navigation on the river.[111] In 2010,
there was also a dispute around Isla Calero, and the impact of Nicaraguan dredging of the river in
that area.[112]
On 14 July 2009, the International Court of Justice in the Hague upheld Costa Rica's navigation
rights for commercial purposes to subsistence fishing on their side of the river. An 1858 treaty
extended navigation rights to Costa Rica, but Nicaragua denied passenger travel and fishing were
part of the deal; the court ruled Costa Ricans on the river were not required to have Nicaraguan
tourist cards or visas as Nicaragua argued, but, in a nod to the Nicaraguans, ruled that Costa Rican
boats and passengers must stop at the first and last Nicaraguan port along their route. They must
also have an identity document or passport. Nicaragua can also impose timetables on Costa Rican
traffic. Nicaragua may require Costa Rican boats to display the flag of Nicaragua, but may not
charge them for departure clearance from its ports. These were all specific items of contention
brought to the court in the 2005 filing.[113]
On 1 June 2007, Costa Rica broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan, switching recognition to the People's
Republic of China. Costa Rica was the first of the Central American nations to do so.
President Óscar Arias Sánchez admitted the action was a response to economic exigency.[114] In
response, the PRC built a new, $100 million, state-of-the-art football stadium in Parque la Sabana, in
the province of San José. Approximately 600 Chinese engineers and laborers took part in this
project, and it was inaugurated in March 2011, with a match between the national teams of Costa
Rica and China.
Costa Rica finished a term on the United Nations Security Council, having been elected for a
nonrenewable, two-year term in the 2007 election. Its term expired on 31 December 2009; this was
Costa Rica's third time on the Security Council. Elayne Whyte Gómez is the Permanent
Representative of Costa Rica to the UN Office at Geneva (2017) and President of the United Nations
Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.[115]
Pacifism
On December 1, 1948, Costa Rica abolished its military force.[52] In 1949, the abolition of the military
was introduced in Article 12 of the Costa Rican Constitution. The budget previously dedicated to the
military is now dedicated to providing health care services and education.[51][116] According to DW,
"Costa Rica is known for its stable democracy, progressive social policies, such as free, compulsory
public education, high social well-being, and emphasis on environmental protection."[53]
In 2017, Costa Rica signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[117][118]

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Costa Rica
showCosta Rican Censuses

The 2011 census counted a population of 4.3 million people[119] distributed among the following
groups: 83.6% whites or mestizos, 6.7% mulattoes, 2.4% Native American, 1.1% black or Afro-
Caribbean; the census showed 1.1% as Other, 2.9% (141,304 people) as None, and 2.2% (107,196
people) as unspecified.[1] By 2016, the UN estimation for the population was around 4.9 million.[4]

Population pyramid 2016

In 2011, there were over 104,000 Native American or indigenous inhabitants, representing 2.4% of
the population. Most of them live in secluded reservations, distributed among eight ethnic
groups: Quitirrisí (in the Central Valley), Matambú or Chorotega (Guanacaste), Maleku (northern
Alajuela), Bribri (southern Atlantic), Cabécar (Cordillera de Talamanca), Guaymí (southern Costa
Rica, along the Panamá border), Boruca (southern Costa Rica) and Térraba [es] (southern Costa
Rica).
The population includes European Costa Ricans (of European ancestry), primarily
of Spanish descent,[2] with significant numbers of Italian, German, English, Dutch, French, Irish,
Portuguese, and Polish families, as well a sizable Jewish community. The majority of the Afro-Costa
Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of 19th century black Jamaican immigrant
workers.[120][121]
Costa Rican school children

The 2011 census classified 83.6% of the population as white or Mestizo; the latter are persons of
combined European and Amerindian descent. The Mulatto segment (mix of white and black)
represented 6.7% and indigenous people made up 2.4% of the population.[2] Native and European
mixed blood populations are far less than in other Latin American countries. Exceptions
are Guanacaste, where almost half the population is visibly mestizo, a legacy of the more pervasive
unions between Spanish colonists and Chorotega Amerindians through several generations,
and Limón, where the vast majority of the Afro-Costa Rican community lives.
Costa Rica hosts many refugees, mainly from Colombia and Nicaragua. As a result of that and
illegal immigration, an estimated 10–15% (400,000–600,000) of the Costa Rican population is made
up of Nicaraguans.[122][123] Some Nicaraguans migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return
to their country. Costa Rica took in many refugees from a range of other Latin American countries
fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 1980s, notably from Chile and Argentina, as
well as people from El Salvador who fled from guerrillas and government death squads.[124]
According to the World Bank, in 2010 about 489,200 immigrants lived in the country, many from
Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize, while 125,306 Costa Ricans
live abroad in the United States, Panama, Nicaragua, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Germany,
Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador.[125] The number of migrants declined in later years but
in 2015, there were some 420,000 immigrants in Costa Rica[126] and the number of asylum seekers
(mostly from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua) rose to more than 110,000, a
fivefold increase from 2012.[127] In 2016, the country was called a "magnet" for migrants from South
and Central America and other countries who were hoping to reach the U.S.[128][129]
Largest cities
Further information: Cantons of Costa Rica

 v

 t

 e
Largest cities or towns in Costa Rica
Census 2000

Rank Name Province Pop.

1 San José San José 333 980
2 Puerto Limón Limón
3 Alajuela Alajuela
 4 Heredia Heredia
5 Cinco Esquinas San José
6 Desamparados San José
7 Liberia Guanacaste
8 Puntarenas Puntarenas
San José
9 San Vicente San José

10 Barranca Puntarenas

Puerto Limón

Religion
Religion in Costa Rica[3]

Catholicism (52%)
Protestantism (25%)
Irreligion (17%)
Buddhism (2.1%)
Other religions (1%)

Main article: Religion in Costa Rica

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels), during 2007 pilgrimage

Christianity is Costa Rica's predominant religion, with Roman Catholicism being the official state
religion according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time guarantees freedom of religion. It
is the only state in the Americas which established Roman Catholicism as its state religion; other
such countries are microstates in Europe: Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Vatican City and Malta.
The Latinobarómetro survey of 2017 found that 57% of the population identify themselves as Roman
Catholics, 25% are Evangelical Protestants, 15% report that they do not have a religion, and 2%
declare that they belong to another religion.[130] This survey indicated a decline in the share of
Catholics and rise in the share of Protestants and irreligious.[130] A University of Costa Rica survey of
2018 show similar rates; 52% Catholics, 25% Protestants, 17% irreligious and 3% other.[3] The rate
of secularism is high by Latin American standards.
Due to small, but continuous, immigration from Asia and the Middle East, other religions have grown,
the most popular being Buddhism, with about 100,000 practitioners (over 2% of the
population).[131] Most Buddhists are members of the Han Chinese community of about 40,000 with
some new local converts. There is also a small Muslim community of about 500 families, or 0.001%
of the population.[132]
The Sinagoga Shaarei Zion synagogue[133] is near La Sabana Metropolitan Park in San José. Several
homes in the neighborhood east of the park display the Star of David and other Jewish symbols.[134]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims more than 35,000 members, and has
a temple in San José that served as a regional worship center for Costa Rica.[135] However, they
represent less than 1% of the population.[136][137]
Languages
Main article: Languages of Costa Rica
The primary language spoken in Costa Rica is Spanish, which features characteristics distinct to the
country, a form of Central American Spanish. Costa Rica is a linguistically diverse country and home
to at least five living local indigenous languages spoken by the descendants of pre-Columbian
peoples: Maléku, Cabécar, Bribri, Guaymí, and Buglere.
Of native languages still spoken, primarily in indigenous reservations, the most numerically important
are the Bribri, Maléku, Cabécar and Ngäbere languages; some of these have several thousand
speakers in Costa Rica while others have a few hundred. Some languages, such
as Teribe and Boruca, have fewer than a thousand speakers. The Buglere language and the closely
related Guaymí are spoken by some in southeast Puntarenas.[138]
A Creole-English language, Jamaican patois (also known as Mekatelyu), is an English-based Creole
language spoken by the Afro-Carib immigrants who have settled primarily in Limón Province along
the Caribbean coast.[138]
About 10.7% of Costa Rica's adult population (18 or older) also speaks English, 0.7% French, and
0.3% speaks Portuguese or German as a second lang