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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

Of the 500,000 species of life that Costa Rica is home to, how many are insects?

Hint

It's probably more than you think it is.

Answer

300,000 species are insects.^[1]

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Mora supervising a WIDECAST event in 2010

Jairo Mora Sandoval (March 22, 1987 – May 31, 2013) was a Costa Rican environmentalist who was murdered while attempting to protect leatherback turtle nests. Just before midnight on May 30, 2013, Mora and four female volunteers were abducted by a group of masked men. The women eventually escaped and informed the police. Mora's bound and beaten body was found on the beach the next morning. An autopsy determined he died by asphyxiation after suffering a blow to the head.

Sea turtles are protected by law in Costa Rica, but poaching remains common. Locals take eggs, which are believed to be an aphrodisiac, and sell them on the black market. The egg trade has been linked to drug trafficking and organized crime. Environmentalists working in Limón say they are often threatened for trying to protect turtle eggs. Jairo Mora was one such environmentalist working in the area. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... 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 goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Rican player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup?
... 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 to animate conquistadors in Jungle Cruise, frogs were recorded in a Costa Rican forest?
... that footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?
... 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?

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...that Inca Dove is a small New World dove that ranges from the southwestern United States and Mexico through Central America to Costa Rica?

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Related portals

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