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COSTA RICA
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA
Costa rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaraqua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Costa Rica, which means ''Rich Coast'', constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 11 older democracies.
Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Develpment Index, ranked 62nd in the world in 2010, and is cited by the UNDP as one of the countries that has attained much higher human develpment than orther countries at the same income levels.
In 2007 the Costa Rican fovernment annouced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021.
Costa Rica is composed of seven provinces, which turn are divided into 81 cantons, each of which is directed by a mayor. mayors are chosen democratically every four years by each canton's people. There are no provincial lgislatures. The cantons are further divided into 421 districts. The provinces are: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose.
Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, lying between latitudes 8 and 12N, and longitudes 82 and 86W. It borders the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, with a total of 1,290 km of coastline, 212km on the Caribbean coast and 1,016km on the Pacific.
Costa Rica also borders Nicaraqua to the north and Panama to the south-southeast. In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 km2 of territorial waters.
The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripo, at 3,819 metres, and is the fifth highest peak in Central America. the highest volcano in the country is the Irazu Volcano (3,431 m). the larges lake in Costa rica is Lake Arenal.
Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island stands out because of its distance from continental landmass, 480km from Puntarenas, but Calero Island is the larges island of the country. Over 25% of Costa Rica's national territory is protected by SINAC (the National System of Conservation Areas), which oversees all of the country's protected areas. Costa Rica also possesses the gretest density of species in the world.
Because Costa rica is located between nine to ten degrees north of the Equator, the climate is tropical year round. However, the country has many microclimates depending on elevation, rainfall, topography, and by the geography of each particular region.
Costa Rica's seasons are defined by how much rain falls during a particular period and not to the four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. The year can be split into two periods, the dry seadon know to the residents as summer, and the rainy season, know locally as winter.
The location that receives the most rain is the Caribbean slopes of the Central Cordilera mountains, with an annual rainfall of over 5,000mm. Humidity is also higher on the Caribbean side than on the Pacific side. the main annual temperature on the coastal lowlands is around 27 celsium, 20 celsium in the main populated areas of the Central Cordilera, and below 10 celsium on the summits of the highes mountains.
Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.25% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Around 25% of the country's land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the larges percentage of protected areas in the world average 13% developed world.
Costa Rica has successfully managed to diminsh deforestation from some of the worst rates in the world from 1973 to 1989, to almost zero by 2005
One national park that is internationally renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity and where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife is tha Corcovado National Park. Corcovado is the one park in Costa Rica where all four Costa Rican monkey species can be found. These include the White-headed Capuchin, the Mantled Howler, the endagered Geoffroy's Spider Monkey and the Central American Squirrel Monkey, found only on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and a small part of Panama, and was considered endangered until 2008 when its status was upgraded to vulnerable. Deforestation, illegal pet-trading and hunting are the main reasons for its threatened status.
Tortuguero National Park is home to spider, howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys. The park ie recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle and is the most important nesting site for the species. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest there.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is home to about 2,000 plant species, including numerous orchids. Over 400 types of birds and over 100 species of mammals can be found there.
As of 2010, Costa Rica has an estimated population of 4,640,000. Whites and mestizos make up 94% of the population, while 3% are Black, or Afro-Caribbean, 1% Native American, 1% Chinese, and 1% other.
There are also over 60,000 Native American or indigenous inhabitants, representing 1.5% of the population. Most of them live in secluded reservations, distributed among eight ethnic groups: Quitirrisi, Matabu, Maleku, Bribri, Cabecar, Guaymi, Boruca and Terraba.
Christianity is the predominant religion, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time guarantees freedom of religion.
The primary language spoken in Costa Rica is Spanish. some native languages are still spoken in indigenous reservations the most numerically important are the Bribri, Maleku, Cabecar and Ngabere languages some of which have several thousand speakers in Costar Rica.
LIBERIA
is a city i Guanacaste province, Costa Rica, located 215 km northwest of the capital, San Jose.
With more than 35,000 inhabitants, Liberia is the regional hub of the Costa Rican northwest. The city center features a modern church, as many Costa Rican towns do, facing a plaza surrounded by locally-owned shops and restaurants. liberia is also home to an expo that takes place in the month of July, celebrating the annexation of Guanacaste Province on July 25, 1824.
Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport
Formerly know as Liberia International Airport, is one of the four international airports in Costa Rica.
The airport is located in the city of Liberia in Guanacaste Province. It serves as a hub for the affluent tourism that visits Costa Rica's Pacific coast. The airport is named for Daniel Oduber Quiros, who served as president of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978. The most comon airplanes to visit this airport are 737s and 757s.
Airlines and destinations
Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Berlin | Seasonal: Düsseldorf [begins November 12] |
| Air Canada | Toronto Pearson Seasonal: Montreal-Trudeau |
| Air Transat | Seasonal: Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver |
| Arkefly | Seasonal: Amsterdam, Düsseldorf |
| American Airlines | Dallas/Ft. Worth, Miami |
| Canjet | Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson |
| Continental Airlines | Houston-Intercontinental, Newark |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta |
| Enerjet | Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson |
| Frontier Airlines | Seasonal: Denver |
| Jetairfly | Brussels |
| Miami Air | Seasonal: Miami |
| Nature Air | La Fortuna, Managua, Punta Islita, Pavas-SYQ, Tamarindo |
| Sunwing Airlines | Toronto-Pearson |
| TACA operated by TACA Regional | San Salvador |
| TACA operated by Sansa | San José de Costa Rica, Tamarindo |
| Thomas Cook Canada operated by Jazz Air | Seasonal: Montreal-Trudeau, Ottawa, Toronto-Pearson |
| Thomson Airways | London-Gatwick |
| United Airlines | Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare |
| USA 3000 Airlines | Chicago-O'Hare, St. Louis [begins May 6] |
| US Airways | Charlotte |
| Westjet | Toronto-Pearson |
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