Portal:Costa Rica

Republic of Costa Rica
*República de Costa Rica* (Spanish)
Republic of Costa Rica República de Costa Rica (Spanish)
	Flag Coat of arms
	Anthem: "Himno Nacional de Costa Rica" (Spanish); "National Anthem of Costa Rica"
ISO 3166 code	CR

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The Costa Rica Portal

Introduction

Costa Rica (UK: /ˌkɒstə ˈriːkə/, US: /ˌkoʊstə-/ ^ⓘ; Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika]; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in the Central American region of North America. Costa Rica is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million0 in a land area of 51,060 km² (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

The sovereign state is a unitary presidential constitutional republic. It has a long-standing and stable democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. 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.

Costa Rica was 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 Federal Republic of Central America, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Following the brief Costa Rican Civil War in 1948, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army. (Full article...)

The Costa Rica Quiz

How many provinces is Costa Rica divided into?

Hint

Fewer than

Canada, but more than

Pakistan.

Answer

Costa Rica has seven provinces.

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Alajuela (Spanish pronunciation: [alaˈxwela]) is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it is also the capital of the Province of Alajuela.

Because of its location in the Costa Rican Central Valley, Alajuela is nowadays part of the conurbation of the Greater Metropolitan Area. The city is the birthplace of Juan Santamaría, the national hero of Costa Rica and the figure who gives the name to the country's main international airport, which is south of Alajuela downtown. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?
... that in August 2021 Sheika Scott became the youngest player to score in the Costa Rican Women's Premier Division, at just 14 years old?
... that goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Rican player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup?
... that while Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios was exiled from Nicaragua and living in Costa Rica in the 1980s, his sister Claudia was there as Nicaragua’s ambassador?
... that Marita Camacho Quirós, who was First Lady of Costa Rica (1962–1966), is the oldest former first lady in the world and a supercentenarian?
... that to animate conquistadors in Jungle Cruise, frogs were recorded in a Costa Rican forest?

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...that Pancha Carrasco became Costa Rica's first woman in the military by joining the defending forces at the Battle of Rivas in 1856 with a rifle and a pocketful of bullets?

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Image 1Mantled howler monkey, male (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 2Costa Rican Women in traditional dress (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 3Typical settlement of the Diquis indigenous people before the arrival of Columbus. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 4Provinces 1 Alajuela, 2 Cartago, 3 Guanacaste, 4 Heredia, 5 Limón, 6 Puntarenas, 7 San José (from Costa Rica)
Image 5Arenal Volcano National Park is one of the country's tourist attractions. (from Costa Rica)
Image 6The scarlet macaw is native to Costa Rica. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 7The Rio Celeste (sky blue river) at Tenorio Volcano National Park in Costa Rica. (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 8The mangrove hummingbird is endemic to Costa Rica and specializes in feeding from the tea mangrove plant with its uniquely shaped beak. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 9The extent of Costa Rica's western EEZ in the Pacific (from Costa Rica)
Image 10Costa Rica map of Köppen climate classification (from Costa Rica)
Image 11Yigüirro, Costa Rica's national bird (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 12Eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 13Hospital Calderón Guardia, named after the president who instituted universal health care across the country in 1941 (from Costa Rica)
Image 14Gallo Pinto (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 15José María Castro Madriz formally declared Costa Rica as independent from the Federal Republic of Central America in 1848. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 16Costa Rican school children (from Costa Rica)
Image 17Symbolic act of Costa Rica's army abolition by president José Figueres Ferrer on December 1, 1948, at Cuartel Bellavista (former army headquarters), site which now hosts the National Museum (from Costa Rica)
Image 18Hospital CIMA in Escazú (from Costa Rica)
Image 19Costa Rica supporters at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil (from Costa Rica)
Image 20José Figueres Ferrer's symbolic act of the army's abolition on December 1st, 1948 at Cuartel Bellavista, today the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 21The 1849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862. (from Costa Rica)
Image 22The 1849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 23Red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) (from Costa Rica)
Image 24Costa Rica's tropical landscape (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 25Real GDP per capita development in Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 26Countries (in blue) which have signed Free Trade Agreements with Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 27Costa Rican breakfast with gallo pinto (from Costa Rica)
Image 28Las Carretas (oxcarts) are a national symbol. (from Costa Rica)
Image 29A red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 30The Ujarrás historical site in the Orosí Valley, Cartago province. The church was built between 1686 and 1693. (from Costa Rica)
Image 31Epiphytes near Santa Elena (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 32A coffee plantation in the Orosí Valley (from Costa Rica)
Image 33The University of Costa Rica is the largest university of the country and one of the most recognizable across Central America (from Costa Rica)
Image 34An 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. (from Costa Rica)
Image 35Costa Rican kids. (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 36Waterfall in the Tenorio Volcano National Park (from Costa Rica)
Image 37Development of life expectancy in Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 38Gregorio José Ramírez was the most notable political chief of the province of Costa Rica, leading republican forces victorious in the Battle of Ochomogo. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 39Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, Cartago), during the 2007 pilgrimage (from Costa Rica)
Image 40Stone spheres created by the Diquis culture at the National Museum of Costa Rica. The sphere is the icon of the country's cultural identity. (from Costa Rica)
Image 41The golden toad, an amphibian once endemic to Costa Rica, is now extinct. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 42The zebra longwing butterfly (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 43Chatham beach on Cocos Island. (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 44Population pyramid for Costa Rica 2023 (from Costa Rica)
Image 45An industrial park in Heredia (from Costa Rica)
Image 46Barack Obama and Laura Chinchilla with Costa Rican children in San José (from Costa Rica)
Image 47The Heliconius doris butterfly (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)