Costa Rica

• tropical and subtropical;
• dry season (December to April);
• rainy season (May to November);
• cooler in highlands

agricultural land:

37.1%;

• arable land 4.9%;
• permanent crops 6.7%;
• permanent pasture 25.5%

forest:

51.5%

other:

11.4% (2011 est.)

total:

5.77 cu km/yr (15%/9%/77%)

per capita:

1,582 cu m/yr (2006)

• occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast;
• frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides;
• active volcanoes

volcanism:

• Arenal (elev. 1,670 m), which erupted in 2010, is the most active volcano in Costa Rica;
• a 1968 eruption destroyed the town of Tabacon;
• Irazu (elev. 3,432 m), situated just east of San Jose, has the potential to spew ash over the capital city as it did between 1963 and 1965;
• other historically active volcanoes include
  • Miravalles,
  • Poas,
  • Rincon de la Vieja,
  • and Turrialba

• 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

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

• 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

noun:

Costa Rican(s)

adjective:

Costa Rican

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.86 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever (2013)

total number:

39,082

percentage:

5% (2002 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Costa Rica

conventional short form:

Costa Rica

local long form:

Republica de Costa Rica

local short form:

Costa Rica

name:

San Jose

geographic coordinates:

9 56 N, 84 05 W

time difference:

UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• previous 1825;
• latest adopted 7 November 1949;
• amended many times, last in 2005;
• note - amendment declaring Costa Rica a multicultural, multiethnic country pending final Legislative Assembly approval (2015)

chief of state:

• President Luis Guillermo SOLIS Rivera (since 8 May 2014);
• First Vice President Helio FALLAS Venega (since 8 May 2014);
• Second Vice President Ana Helena CHACON Echeverria (since 8 May 2014);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President Luis Guillermo SOLIS Rivera (since 8 May 2014);
• First Vice President Helio FALLAS Venega (since 8 May 2014);
• Second Vice President Ana Helena CHACON Echeverria (since 8 May 2014)

cabinet:

Cabinet selected by the president

elections/appointments:

• president and vice presidents directly elected on the same ballot by modified majority popular vote (40% threshold) for a 4-year term (eligible for non-consecutive terms);
• election last held on 2 February 2014 with a runoff on 6 April 2014 (next to be held in February 2018)

election results:

• Luis Guillermo SOLIS Rivera elected president;
• percent of vote - Luis Guillermo SOLIS Rivera (PAC) 77.8%;
• Johnny ARAYA (PLN) 22.2%

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of Justice (consists of 22 judges organized into 3 cassation chambers each with 5 judges, and the Constitutional Chamber with 7 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

Supreme Court of Justice judges elected by the National Assembly for 8-year terms with renewal decided by the National Assembly

subordinate courts:

• appellate courts;
• first instance and justice of the peace courts;
• Superior Electoral Tribunal

• Accessibility Without Exclusion or PASE [Oscar Andres LOPEZ Arias]
• Broad Front (Frente Amplio) or PFA [Ana Patricia MORA]
• Citizen Action Party or PAC [Olivier PEREZ Gonzalez]
• Costa Rican Renovation Party or PRC [Gerardo Justo OROZCO Alvarez]
• Libertarian Movement Party or ML [Victor Danilo CUBERO Corrales]
• National Integration Party or PIN [Walter MUNOZ Cespedes]
• National Liberation Party or PLN [Bernal JIMENEZ]
• National Restoration Party or PRN [Carlos AVENDANO]
• Patriotic Alliance [Jorge ARAYA Westover]
• Popular Vanguard [Humberto VARGAS]
• Social Christian Unity Party or PUSC [Gerardo VARGAS]

• Authentic Confederation of Democratic Workers or CATD (Communist Party affiliate)
• Chamber of Coffee Growers
• Confederated Union of Workers or CUT (Communist Party affiliate)
• Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum or CTRN (National Libertion Party affiliate)
• Costa Rican Confederation of Democratic Workers or CCTD (National Libertion Party affiliate)
• Costa Rican Exporter's Chamber or CADEXCO
• Costa Rican Solidarity Movement
• Costa Rican Union of Private Sector Enterprises or UCCAEP
• Federation of Public Service Workers or FTSP
• National Association for Economic Development or ANFE
• National Association of Educators or ANDE
• National Association of Public and Private Employees or ANEP

chief of mission:

Ambassador Roman MACAYA Hayes (since 18 September 2014)

chancery:

2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 480-2200

FAX:

[1] (202) 265-4795

consulate(s) general:

• Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa (FL), Washington DC;
• note - honorary consulates:
  • Boston,
  • Dallas,
  • Denver,
  • Tucson (AZ)

consulate(s):

San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Gonzalo GALLEGOS (since July 2013)

embassy:

Calle 98 Via 104, Pavas, San Jose

mailing address:

APO AA 34020

telephone:

[506] 2519-2000

FAX:

[506] 2519-2305

• five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white elliptical disk placed toward the hoist side of the red band;
• Costa Rica retained the earlier blue-white-blue flag of Central America until 1848 when, in response to revolutionary activity in Europe, it was decided to incorporate the French colors into the national flag and a central red stripe was added;
• today the blue color is said to stand for the sky, opportunity, and perseverance, white denotes peace, happiness, and wisdom, while red represents the blood shed for freedom, as well as the generosity and vibrancy of the people

note: somewhat resembles the flag of North Korea; similar to the flag of Thailand but with the blue and red colors reversed

name:

"Himno Nacional de Costa Rica" (National Anthem of Costa Rica)

lyrics/music:

Jose Maria ZELEDON Brenes/Manuel Maria GUTIERREZ

note: adopted 1949; the anthem's music was originally written for an 1853 welcome ceremony for diplomatic missions from the United States and United Kingdom; the lyrics were added in 1903

• bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes;
• beef, poultry, dairy;
• timber

agriculture:

14%

industry:

22%

services:

64% (2006 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.2%

highest 10%:

39.5% (2009 est.)

• bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar;
• beef;
• seafood;
• electronic components, medical equipment

general assessment:

• good domestic telephone service in terms of breadth of coverage;
• under the terms of CAFTA-DR, the state-run telecommunications monopoly is scheduled to be opened to competition from domestic and international firms, but has been slow to open to competition

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;
• landing points for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1), MAYA-1, and the Pan American Crossing submarine cables that provide links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US;
• connected to Central American Microwave System;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011)

• multiple privately owned TV stations and 1 publicly owned TV station;
• cable network services are widely available;
• more than 100 privately owned radio stations and a public radio network (2007)

total:

278 km

narrow gauge:

278 km 1.067-m gauge

note: the entire rail network fell into disrepair and out of use at the end of the 20th century; since 2005, certain sections of rail have been rehabilitated (2014)

country comparison to the world: 123

total:

39,018 km

paved:

10,133 km

unpaved:

28,885 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 90

total:

1

by type:

passenger/cargo 1 (2010)

country comparison to the world: 149

males age 16-49:

1,255,798

females age 16-49:

1,230,202 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,058,419

females age 16-49:

1,037,053 (2010 est.)

male:

42,201

female:

40,444 (2010 est.)

• Costa Rica and Nicaragua regularly file border dispute cases over the delimitations of the San Juan River and the northern tip of Calero Island to the International Court of Justice (ICJ);
• in 2009, the ICJ ruled that Costa Rican vessels carrying out police activities could not use the river, but official Costa Rican vessels providing essential services to riverside inhabitants and Costa Rican tourists could travel freely on the river;
• in 2011, the ICJ provisionally ruled that both countries must remove personnel from the disputed area;
• in 2013, the ICJ rejected Nicaragua's 2012 suit to halt Costa Rica's construction of a highway paralleling the river on the grounds of irreparable environmental damage;
• in 2013, the ICJ, regarding the disputed territory, ordered that Nicaragua should refrain from dredging or canal construction and refill and repair damage caused by trenches connecting the river to the Caribbean and upheld its 2010 ruling that Nicaragua must remove all personnel;
• in early 2014, Costa Rica brought Nicaragua to the ICJ over offshore oil concessions in the disputed region

refugees (country of origin):

16,623 (Colombia) (2014)

stateless persons:

1,200 (2014)

• transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America;
• illicit production of cannabis in remote areas;
• domestic cocaine consumption, particularly crack cocaine, is rising;
• significant consumption of amphetamines;
• seizures of smuggled cash in Costa Rica and at the main border crossing to enter Costa Rica from Nicaragua have risen in recent years (2008)