About Costa Rica

COSTA RICA FACTS

• Name: Republic of Costa Rica.

• Location: Central America, south of Nicaragua and North of Panama.

• Capital: San José.

• Area: 50,660 km sq (about the size of the U.S. state of West Virginia).

• Population: 5 million.

• Infant mortality rate: 11.6 per 1,000 live births.

• Life expectancy: 77.49 years male, 79.52 years female.

• Total fertility rate: 3.11 children per woman (1993 estimate).

• Principal industries: Tourism, coffee, bananas.

• Ethnic divisions: White (including mestizo) 96 percent, Black 2 percent, Indian 1 percent, Chinese 1 percent.

• Language: Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon, in the tourism industry, and by many professionals in the Central Valley.

• Religions: Roman Catholic (official state religion) 95 percent. Protestant faiths are practiced, and there is a small Jewish community.

• Administrative division: Provinces: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas, San José.

• Legal system: Based on Spanish civil law system, judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court.

• Direct election: Democratic republic with two similar centrist dominant parties National Liberation Party (PLN) and Christian Unity Party (PUSC). Elections held every four years.

• Education: Free and compulsory through the end of the 9th year.