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Guide to Costa Rica

Introduction

Background: Costa Rica is a Central American success story

Geography

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
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 1,290 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
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
Natural resources: hydropower
Land use: arable land
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
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

People

Population: 4,016,173 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
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
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
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
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

Government

Country name: conventional long form
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
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections
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
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
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

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
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%
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
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
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

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.132 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 528,047 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment
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)

Transportation

Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 730 km (seasonally navigable by small craft) (2004)
Pipelines: refined products 242 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Caldera, Puerto Limon
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 149 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total

Military

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
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $64.2 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.4% (2003)

Transnational Issues

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
Last updated: 20 October, 2005