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Geographic Placement
Costa Rica is a republic in southern Central America, bounded on the north by Nicaragua, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, on the southeast by Panama, and on the southwest and west by the Pacific Ocean. The uninhabited and densely wooded tropical Cocos Island, about 480 km (about 300 mi) to the southwest in the Pacific Ocean, is under Costa Rican sovereignty. The total area of Costa Rica is 51,060 sq km (19,714 sq mi) - approximately equal to the state of West Virginia. The country's capital is San José.
Land and Resources
Most of Costa Rica is rugged highlands, about 915 to 1830 m (about 3000 to 6000 ft) above sea level. Several mountain ranges extend nearly the entire length of the country. These include the Cordillera de Talamanca, Cordillera Central, and Cordillera de Guanacaste. The highest peaks are Chirripó Grande (3819 m/12,530 ft) and the active volcano of Irazú (3432 m/11,260 ft). A central plateau, the Meseta Central, is located between the ranges and contains the bulk of the population. Wide lowlands extend along the almost unindented Caribbean coast. The lowlands along the Pacific are narrower. Here the coast is broken by a number of bays, the chief ones being the landlocked Gulf of Nicoya, the deep, open Gulf of Dulce, and Coronada Bay. The principal stream of Costa Rica is the San Juan River, which forms part of the country's boundary with Nicaragua to the north.
Climate
The climate of Costa Rica ranges from tropical on the coastal plains to temperate in the interior highlands. Average annual temperatures range from 31.7 deg. C (89 deg. F) on the coast to 16.7 deg. C (62 deg. F) inland. A rainy season lasts from April or May to December. Annual precipitation in the country averages about 2540 mm (about 100 in).
Natural Resources
Good agricultural soils in Costa Rica are concentrated in the Meseta Central and in the river valleys. About one-third of the total land area is covered by forest, much of which is commercially productive. Mineral resources, including bauxite, are believed to be extensive but remain largely undeveloped. Fishing for tuna, sharks, and turtles is carried out along the coast. Waterpower is abundant and is used to generate electricity for industrial operations.
Plants and Animals
Costa Rica's forests contain rich stands of ebony, balsa, mahogany, and cedar. More than 1000 species of orchids are found in Costa Rica. Wildlife is abundant and includes puma, jaguar, deer, monkeys, and about 725 species of birds.
Population and Population Characteristics
The population of Costa Rica (1993 estimate) was 3,264,776, giving the country an estimated overall population density of about 64 people per sq km (about 166 per sq mi).
A majority of the people of Costa Rica are of European (largely Spanish) descent. Whites and mestizos (those of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry) account for more than 90 percent of the population; the small black community is largely of Jamaican origin. About 50 percent of the population is defined as rural. Spanish is the official language, but English is also spoken by many educated people and some of the formerly Jamaican population. Roman Catholicism is the state religion, but freedom of worship is guaranteed by the constitution.
Political Divisions
Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces: San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Puntarenas, Guanacaste, Heredia, and Limón. Each of the provinces has a governor appointed by the president.
Principal Cities
The capital is San José, with an estimated population in 1991 of 296,625. Important cities are Limon (population, 1991 estimate, 67,784), a trading center and one of the country's principal ports; Puntarenas (92,360), a major Pacific seaport; and Alajuela (158,276), a center for the production of coffee and sugar.
Education
Costa Rica has one of the highest rates of literacy, estimated at 93 percent, in Latin America. Primary and secondary education is free, and attendance is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 13. In the late 1980s about 409,600 pupils were enrolled in some 3200 public primary schools and about 143,100 students attended about 245 public and private secondary schools. The prominent University of Costa Rica, in San José, was founded in 1843, and has an annual enrollment of about 28,200.
Culture
Costa Rica, with a relatively small Native American population, has been strongly influenced by the culture and traditions of Spain. Native American and African-American influences have had relatively little impact. The Roman Catholic cultural pattern of Spain, with emphasis on the family and the church, has evolved into a national style of life. Festivals in honor of patron saints are a colorful part of village and town life. The guitar, accordion, and mandolin have traditionally been the most popular musical instruments, and the music reflects a Spanish heritage. Traces of the Native American culture survive in designs used in jewelry, leather goods, and clothing. The national sport is soccer.
Economy
The economy of Costa Rica remains basically agricultural, although manufacturing industries have been expanding since the early 1960s. In an effort to introduce economic diversity, more emphasis has been given to the raising of livestock. Overall living conditions are high by Latin American standards, and the country has a large middle class. Between 1970 and 1987, Costa Rica received about $1.2 billion in loans and grants from the United States. In the late 1980s estimated annual budget figures showed revenues of $700 million and expenditures of $792 million.
Agriculture
About 10 percent of Costa Rica's land area is under cultivation. Apart from banana plantations, most of the agricultural landholdings are small. Coffee, one of the most valuable crops, is cultivated mainly in the central plateaus. About 145,000 metric tons of coffee were produced annually in the late 1980s. Bananas are raised in the tropical coastal regions on plantations. A United States firm, the United Fruit Company, opened the largest banana plantation in the world on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and constructed the ports of Quepos and Golfito as banana-shipping points. Cacao, sugarcane, and pineapples are also raised primarily for export. Corn, rice, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton are generally cultivated throughout the country. In the late 1980s livestock included about 2,190,000 cattle, 223,000 hogs, and 114,000 horses.
Currency and Foreign Trade
The unit of currency is the colón, consisting of 100 centimos (about 230 colones equal U.S.$1). The Banco Central, established in 1950, is the bank of issue and administers foreign reserves. In the late 1980s the annual value of imports was about $1.7 billion and of exports, about $1.4 billion. The chief exports included coffee, bananas, beef, textiles, and sugar. Principal imports were manufactured goods, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, crude petroleum, and foodstuffs. The United States, Germany, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Japan were major trade partners. The entry in 1963 of Costa Rica into the Central American Common Market brought about major increases in trade in that region.
Transportation
Railroad lines in Costa Rica total about 700 km (about 435 mi) and link San José with both coasts. Roads total about 35,360 km (about 21,970 mi), of which 15 percent is paved; some 680 km (some 425 mi) of roadway forms a portion of the Inter-American Highway. San José is linked by road with the cities of the surrounding plateau region. Several domestic airlines provide service within the country. Juan Santamaría Airport, which is located near San José, is served by the Costa Rican national airline and several foreign airlines.
Communications
In the late 1980s Costa Rica had 6 daily newspapers and about 45 radio stations and 7 television stations. About 253,200 radios, 470,000 television sets, and 408,750 telephones were in use.
Government
Costa Rica is a republic governed under a constitution of 1949. Executive power is vested in a president and two vice presidents, each of whom is elected by direct popular vote for four-year terms. The president and the vice presidents may not succeed themselves. Each candidate must receive more than 40 percent of the total vote. Voting is compulsory for all citizens over 18 years of age. The president is assisted by a cabinet of some 20 ministers. Legislative power in Costa Rica is vested in a single-chamber Legislative Assembly, with 57 deputies, elected for 4-year terms. The leading political groups in Costa Rica are the National Liberation party (Partido de Liberación Nacional, or PLN), a reformist organization, and the Social Christian Unity Party. Judicial power in Costa Rica is vested in a supreme court, appellate courts, a court of cassation (highest appeals court), and subordinate provincial courts. Capital punishment has been banned.
Social Services
The average life expectancy in Costa Rica is 76 years, the third highest in the world, according to a 1995 study by the World Health Organization (this is only below Japan and France, yet ahead of North America and most of Europe!). A national health plan was established in the 1970s. Health services are concentrated in urban areas. A social security program has been in operation since 1942, with participation compulsory for all employees under 65 years of age.
Defense
Costa Rica has had no armed forces since 1948, when the PLN came to power and abolished the army. The only security forces are the 4500-member Civil Guard and the 3200-member Rural Guard.
History
Human habitation of Costa Rica dates from at least 5000 BC, but in comparison with the great civilizations of pre-Columbian America the Native Americans of Costa Rica were neither numerous nor highly developed. When confronted by Spanish soldiers and missionaries, they resisted violently. Those who did not succumb to the epidemics that swept over the isthmus either died fighting or fled to remote areas.
Democracy and Stable Government
Although late 19th- and early 20th-century Costa Rican politics had its share of irregularities, the clear trend was away from military solutions toward a more orderly political process. Costa Ricans took pride in having more teachers than soldiers and a higher standard of living than elsewhere in Central America. Coffee remained the mainstay of the economy, but a growing urban middle class began to challenge the political hegemony of the coffee elite with more modern political parties. The reformist National Republican party (Partido Republicano Nacional, or PRN) won the presidency with León Cortes Castro in 1936 and again in 1940 with Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia. When the PRN attempted to continue in power after defeat in 1948, a new political force, the National Liberation party (Partido de Liberación Nacional, or PLN), led by José Figueres Ferrer, overthrew it and became the country's dominant party, a position it has since retained. Under moderate governments, Costa Rica became Latin America's most democratic country. Figueres served as president in 1952-1958 and again in 1970-1974. The PLN won the presidency in 1974 with Daniel Oduber, but differences between him and Figueres, along with economic troubles, brought an opposition coalition headed by Rodrigo Carazo Odio to power in 1978. Costa Rica experienced rapid population growth and consequent strains on its economy in the early 1980s. The PLN returned to power in 1982, when Luis Alberto Monge Alvarez was elected president; he was succeeded by Oscar Arias Sánchez, also of the PLN, in 1986. During the late 1980s Arias tried to win consensus among Central American leaders for a plan to bring peace and stability to the region. Rafael A. Calderón, Jr., son of former president Rafael Calderón, won the presidential election of February 1990, running as the candidate of the Social Christian Unity party. In February 1994 José María Figueres Olsen of the PLN was elected president. Figueres is the son of former president José Figueres Ferrer.
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