Costa Rica Info - Costa Rica Tour, Green Frog Adventures

From a humble beginning, Costa Rica has emerged as a Latin American success story. With a long running democracy and a stable economy based on agriculture, tourism, and the electronics industry, Costa Ricans enjoy a relatively high standard of living. Its progressive attitude toward conservation has protected much of Costa Rica's wilderness areas. An amazing 26% of the country has been set aside in a series of national parks and nature preserves. Although Costa Rica covers a tiny .01% of the earth's surface, it contains almost 6% of the planets biodiversity! There is more wildlife in Costa Rica than on most continents!

History

Pre-Conquest: Although Costa Rica sustained a rather large number of indigenous peoples, none achieved the cultural sophistication achieved by the Aztecs and Mayans to the north or the Incas to the south. These scattered, unorganized tribes were, therefore, more impacted by the Spanish conquest. Consequently, very little, in the way of cultural heritage, remains in the urban areas of Costa Rica today. There are, however, some tribes left in the deep jungle.

Spanish Conquest: Costa Rica was 'discovered' by Christopher Columbus himself on his final voyage to the Americas on September 18, 1502. Rumor has it, that the friendly natives were so adorned with gold that this new land was dubbed Costa Rica or Rich Coast in English. The Spanish quickly settled the area and, as in all of the Americas, immediately began converting the culture. There are approximately 63,000 Indians living in Costa Rica Today. They reside mostly in the many cultural preserves and live much as their ancestors did.

Independence: Central America gained its independence on September 15, 1821. The first elected head of state, Juan Mora Fernandez, took office in 1824. In 1869 a free and compulsory education system was established. The first Democratic elections took place in 1889. Finally, in 1949, the Costa Rican constitution took effect. The constitution instituted a mandatory vote and, more importantly, dissolved the armed forces.

Government

Costa Rica is governed in much the same way as the U.S. Like us, they rely on a government that consists of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, thus creating a system of checks and balances. There are some important differences, however. For example, the executive branch is headed by a President and two Vice Presidents. They serve four-year terms and cannot be reelected. Congress consists of 57 deputies who serve four-year nonconsecutive terms. There are 22 Supreme Court judges who serve eight-year terms. There are over 30 different political parties but only two have held office since the drafting of the constitution. The National Liberation Party and the Social Christian Unity Party typically trade power every election or so.

Military

Unless you count the army ants, Costa Rica has had no military force of any kind since the drafting of the constitution in 1949! Costa Rica is known as the 'country without an army'.

Economy

Costa Rica enjoys a relatively stable economy compared to that of other Central American countries. However, until the introduction of coffee and bananas, in the middle of the 19th century, Costa Rica was an extremely poor nation. These agricultural exports began to pull the small country out of its impoverished state and are still important today. In the mid 1990s, tourism overtook agriculture as the major source of revenue. Then, in 1998, the electronics industry surpassed tourism as Costa Rica's largest earner. This was, in large part, due to the Intel corporation opening a plant in the mid 1990s.

Population

According to the last census (July 2000) Costa Rica contained 3,810,179 people. Approximately 3 million people live in or around San Jose leaving much of the rest of the country relatively sparsely populated.

Geography

Costa Rica is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. It boasts over 760 miles of some of the most amazing coastline in the world. To the east is the Caribbean, and to the west is the Pacific. Costa Rica's volcanic mountains soar an amazing 12,529 feet above sea level (mount Chirripo). From the top of Mount Chirripo, on a clear day you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific oceans. Costa Rica is only about the size of West Virginia! Even though Costa Rica covers a miniscule .01 percent of the earth's surface, it contains approximately 6 percent of the earth's biodiversity.

Geology

Most of Costa Rica is about three million years old-just an infant in geologic time. It was created when the Cocos Plate collided with the Caribbean Plate, a process still lifting Costa Rica today. Consequently, the area is prone to both earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Climate

Costa Rica is an equatorial, tropical country so it doesn't have the four seasons we're used to in the temperate regions. Costa Rica has two seasons: the wet and the dry. The dry season (summer) typically lasts from late December to around April. The rest of the year (winter) tends to be on the damp side. Temperatures tend to remain relatively consistent throughout the year with a comfortable 76 degrees being the average.

Money

The Costa Rican currency is called the Colon or Colones (plural) and is named for Christopher Columbus or Cristobal Colon in Spanish. The exchange rate, as of December 2003, is around 400 Colones to one U.S. dollar.

Flora / Fauna

Despite its tiny size, Costa Rica has the distinction of having the most varied fauna of any country on the planet! In 1995 the World Resource Institute published a study showing that Costa Rica contained an amazing 615 species per every 10,000 sq km! Compare that to the U.S., which has only 104 species per every 10,000 sq km.

Fauna: Costa Rica is literally crawling with critters! As of 2004, Costa Rica contains more than 68,000 different species of animals! There are some 850 species of birds in Costa Rica (more than in most continents), 260 mammal species, 180 species of amphibians, 235 reptile species, 835 species of fish, and 65,000 recorded insect species.

Flora: Costa Rica has classified over 10,000 species of vascular plants. The stars of this distinguished group are the orchids, of which there are some 1300 beautiful members. The national flower, Cattleya skinneri, is Costa Rica's most famous orchid.

National Parks: Costa Rica has instituted one of the best national park systems in the world. The system was initiated in the 1960s and now includes 26 national parks covering 11 percent of the country. If you include the hundreds of wildlife refuges, nature reserves, monuments, Indian reservations and other protected areas, they cover an amazing 27 percent of country!