| |
| |
 |
|
|
 |
National Map
Of |
Costa Rica |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Flag
Of |
Costa Rica |
|
|
Flag Description:
five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double
width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white
elliptical disk on the hoist side of the red band; above the
coat of arms a light blue ribbon contains the words, AMERICA
CENTRAL, and just below it near the top of the coat of arms
is a white ribbon with the words, REPUBLICA COSTA RICA
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Emblem(Coat Of Arms)
Of |
Costa Rica |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Anthem
Of |
Costa Rica |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Categories National Symbol Of |
Costa Rica |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Background:
|
Costa
Rica is a Central American success story: since the late
19th century, only two brief periods of violence have
marred its democratic development. Although still a
largely agricultural country, it has expanded its
economy to include strong technology and tourism
sectors. The standard of living is relatively high. Land
ownership is widespread. |
|
Location:
|
Central
America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North
Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
10 00 N,
84 00 W |
|
Map references:
|
Central
America and the Caribbean |
|
Area:
|
total:
51,100 sq km
land: 50,660 sq km
water: 440 sq km
note: includes Isla del Coco |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly
smaller than West Virginia |
|
Land boundaries:
|
total:
639 km
border countries: Nicaragua 309 km, Panama 330 km
|
|
Coastline:
|
1,290 km
|
|
Maritime claims:
|
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm |
|
Climate:
|
tropical
and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy
season (May to November); cooler in highlands |
|
Terrain:
|
coastal
plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100
volcanic cones, of which several are major volcanoes
|
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest
point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Chirripo 3,810 m |
|
Natural resources:
|
hydropower |
|
Land use:
|
arable
land: 4.41%
permanent crops: 5.88%
other: 89.71% (2001) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
1,260 sq
km (1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards:
|
occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast;
frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season
and landslides; active volcanoes |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
deforestation and land use change, largely a result of
the clearing of land for cattle ranching and
agriculture; soil erosion; coastal marine pollution;
fisheries protection; solid waste management; air
pollution |
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
party
to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life
Conservation |
|
Geography - note:
|
four
volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of
San Jose in the center of the country; one of the
volcanoes, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65 |
|
Population:
|
4,016,173
(July 2005 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14
years: 28.9% (male 593,540/female 566,361)
15-64 years: 65.5% (male 1,330,481/female
1,300,664)
65 years and over: 5.6% (male 104,564/female
120,563) (2005 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total:
26.03 years
male: 25.59 years
female: 26.5 years (2005 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
1.48%
(2005 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
18.6
births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
4.33
deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
0.5
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total:
9.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 10.85 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 9 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
|
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total
population: 76.84 years
male: 74.26 years
female: 79.55 years (2005 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
2.28
children born/woman (2005 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
0.6%
(2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
12,000
(2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
900 (2003
est.) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun:
Costa Rican(s)
adjective: Costa Rican |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
white
(including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%,
Chinese 1%, other 1% |
|
Religions:
|
Roman
Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses
1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2% |
|
Languages:
|
Spanish
(official), English |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96%
male: 95.9%
female: 96.1% (2003 est.) |
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Republic of Costa Rica
conventional short form: Costa Rica
local long form: Republica de Costa Rica
local short form: Costa Rica |
|
Government type:
|
democratic republic |
|
Capital:
|
San Jose
|
|
Administrative divisions:
|
7
provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela,
Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San
Jose |
|
Independence:
|
15
September 1821 (from Spain) |
|
National holiday:
|
Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
|
Constitution:
|
7
November 1949 |
|
Legal system:
|
based on
Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative
acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage:
|
18 years
of age; universal and compulsory |
|
Executive branch:
|
chief
of state: President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002);
First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since 8 May 2002);
Second Vice President (vacant); note - the president is
both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Abel PACHECO (since
8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since
8 May 2002); Second Vice President (vacant); note - the
president is both the chief of state and head of
government
cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president
elections: president and vice presidents elected
on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms;
election last held 3 February 2002; run-off election
held 7 April 2002 (next to be held February 2006)
election results: Abel PACHECO elected president;
percent of vote - Abel PACHECO (PUSC) 58%; Rolando ARAYA
(PLN) 42% |
|
Legislative branch:
|
unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa
(57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote
to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 3 February 2002 (next to be
held 3 February 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - PUSC 19, PLN 17, PAC 14, PML 6, PRC 1;
note - seats by party as of January 2005 - PUSC 19, PLN
16, PAC 8, PML 5, PRC 1, Patriotic Union 3, Homeland
First 1, Authentic Member from Heredia 1, Democratic
National Alliance 1, independent 2 |
|
Judicial branch:
|
Supreme
Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for
eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly) |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
Authentic
Member from Heredia [Jose SALAS]; Citizen Action Party
or PAC [Otton SOLIS]; Costa Rican Renovation Party or
PRC [Justo OROZCO]; Democratic Force Party or PFD [Juan
Carlos CHAVES Mora]; Democratic National Alliance
[Emilia RODRIGUEZ]; General Union Party or PUGEN [Carlos
Alberto FERNANDEZ Vega]; Homeland First [Juan Jose
VARGAS]; Independent Worker Party or PIO [Jose Alberto
CUBERO Carmona]; Libertarian Movement Party or PML [Otto
GUEVARA Guth]; National Christian Alliance Party or ANC
[Victor GONZALEZ]; National Integration Party or PIN
[Walter MUNOZ Cespedes]; National Liberation Party or
PLN [Francisco Antonio PACHECO]; National Patriotic
Party or PPN [Daniel Enrique REYNOLDS Vargas]; National
Rescue Party or PRN [Carlos VARGAS Solano]; Patriotic
Union [Humberto ARCE]; Popular Vanguard [Trino BARRANTES
Araya]; Social Christian Unity Party or PUSC [Lorena
VASQUEZ Badilla] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
Authentic
Confederation of Democratic Workers or CATD (Communist
Party affiliate); Chamber of Coffee Growers;
Confederated Union of Workers or CUT (Communist Party
affiliate); Costa Rican Confederation of Democratic
Workers or CCTD (Liberation Party affiliate); Federation
of Public Service Workers or FTSP; National Association
for Economic Development or ANFE; National Association
of Educators or ANDE; Rerum Novarum or CTRN (PLN
affiliate) [Gilbert Brown] |
|
International organization participation:
|
BCIE,
CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer),
MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief
of mission: Ambassador Tomas DUENAS
chancery: 2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-2945
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4795
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San
Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Tampa
consulate(s): Austin |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief
of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires
Douglas M. BARNES
embassy: Calle 120 Avenida O, Pavas, San Jose
mailing address: APO AA 34020
telephone: [506] 220-3939
FAX: [506] 519-2305 |
|
Flag description:
|
five
horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double
width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a
white elliptical disk on the hoist side of the red band;
above the coat of arms a light blue ribbon contains the
words, AMERICA CENTRAL, and just below it near the top
of the coat of arms is a white ribbon with the words,
REPUBLICA COSTA RICA |
|
Economy - overview:
|
Costa
Rica's basically stable economy depends on tourism,
agriculture, and electronics exports. Poverty has been
substantially reduced over the past 15 years, and a
strong social safety net has been put into place.
Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's
political stability and high education levels, and
tourism continues to bring in foreign exchange. Low
prices for coffee and bananas have hurt the agricultural
sector. The government continues to grapple with its
large deficit and massive internal debt. The reduction
of inflation remains a difficult problem because of
rises in the price of imports, labor market rigidities,
and fiscal deficits. The country also needs to reform
its tax system and its pattern of public expenditure.
Costa Rica recently concluded negotiations to
participate in the US-Central American Free Trade
Agreement, which, if ratified by the Costa Rican
Legislature, would result in economic reforms and an
improved investment climate. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$37.97
billion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
3.9%
(2004 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 29.7%
services: 61.8% (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
1.81
million (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate:
|
6.6%
(2004 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
18% (2004
est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest
10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 36.8% (2002) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
45.9
(1997) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
11.5%
(2004 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed):
|
19.2% of
GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $2.497 billion
expenditures: $3.094 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
|
Public debt:
|
58% of
GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
coffee,
pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes;
beef; timber |
|
Industries:
|
microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing,
construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products
|
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
3.1%
(2004 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
6.614
billion kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil
fuel: 1.5%
hydro: 81.9%
nuclear: 0%
other: 16.6% (2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
5.733
billion kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
477
million kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
59
million kWh (2002) |
|
Oil - production:
|
0 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
37,000
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports:
|
NA |
|
Oil - imports:
|
NA |
|
Current account balance:
|
$-980.3
million (2004 est.) |
|
Exports:
|
$6.184
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
coffee,
bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic
components, medical equipment |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 46.9%,
Netherlands 5.3%, Guatemala 4.4% (2004) |
|
Imports:
|
$7.842
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
raw
materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum
|
|
Imports - partners:
|
US 46.1%,
Japan 5.9%, Mexico 5.1%, Brazil 4.2% (2004) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|
$1.736
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$5.962
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Currency (code):
|
Costa
Rican colon (CRC) |
|
Currency code:
|
CRC |
|
Exchange rates:
|
Costa
Rican colones per US dollar - 437.91 (2004), 398.66
(2003), 359.82 (2002), 328.87 (2001), 308.19 (2000) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
calendar
year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
1.132
million (2002) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
528,047
(2002) |
|
Telephone system:
|
general assessment: good domestic telephone service
in terms of breadth of coverage; restricted cellular
telephone service
domestic: point-to-point and point-to-multi-point
microwave, fiber-optic, and coaxial cable link rural
areas; Internet service is available
international: country code - 506; connected to
Central American Microwave System; satellite earth
stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); two submarine
cables (1999) |
|
Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 65, FM
51, shortwave 19 (2002) |
|
Radios:
|
980,000
(1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
20 (plus
43 repeaters) (2002) |
|
Televisions:
|
525,000
(1997) |
|
Internet country code:
|
.cr |
|
Internet hosts:
|
10,826
(2003) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
|
3 (of
which only one is legal) (2000) |
|
Internet users:
|
800,000
(2002) |
|
Railways:
|
total:
278 km
narrow gauge: 278 km 1.067-m gauge (2004) |
|
Highways:
|
total:
35,303 km
paved: 4,236 km
unpaved: 31,067 km (2002) |
|
Waterways:
|
730 km
(seasonally navigable by small craft) (2004) |
|
Pipelines:
|
refined
products 242 km (2004) |
|
Ports and harbors:
|
Caldera,
Puerto Limon |
|
Merchant marine:
|
total:
2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,716 GRT/ DWT
by type: passenger/cargo 2 (2005) |
|
Airports:
|
149 (2004
est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways:
|
total:
30
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 18
under 914 m: 8 (2004 est.) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways:
|
total:
119
914 to 1,523 m: 24
under 914 m: 95 (2004 est.) |
|
Military branches:
|
no
regular military forces; Ministry of Public Security,
Government, and Police |
|
Military service age and obligation:
|
18 years
of age (2004) |
|
Manpower available for military service:
|
males
age 18-49: 997,690 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service:
|
males
age 18-49: 829,874 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
|
males:
41,097 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$64.2
million (2004) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
0.4%
(2003) |
|
Disputes - international:
|
legal
dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on the
border with Nicaragua remains unresolved |
|
Illicit drugs:
|
transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South
America; illicit production of cannabis on small,
scattered plots; domestic cocaine consumption,
particularly crack cocaine, is rising |
|
This page was last updated on
20 October, 2005 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
