Information about COSTA RICA

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Population: approx. 4,5 million inhabitants

• 7 provinces: San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Puntarenas, Cartago, Guanacaste and Limón

• Capital: San José

• Religion: Catholic faith as official religion

• Government: democratic republic

(president: Laura Chinchilla)

LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY

• located in the Central America isthmus• Caribbean Sea on its east, Pacific Ocean

on its west• bordered by Nicaragua to the North and

Panama to the South• divided by a backbone of volcanoes and

mountains (extension of the Andes-Sierre Madre chain)

• part of the Pacific "Rim of Fire“: seven active volcanoes plus dozens of dormant or extinct cones, earth tremors and small quakes from time to time

WEATHER

• tropical country with several distinct climatic zones• no winter or summer as such• most regions have a rainy season (May – November) and a

dry season (December – April)• temperature: around 72 degrees in the Central Valley, 82

degrees on the Atlantic coast and 89 degrees on the Pacific coast

FAUNA & FLORA• rich and abundant fauna, most

admired territories on the planet when it comes to biodiversity.

• more than 200 species of mammals, around 850 species of birds, almost

200 types of amphibians and 220 species of reptiles

• extraordinary abundance of flora, including some 9000-plus species of "higher plants"

• many more species of ferns in Costa Rica (about 800) than in the whole of North America. Of heliconias, members of the banana family more familiarly known as "birds of paradise," there are some 30 species.

COSTA RICA’S COASTS

Carribean Coast (coastline of 132 miles)

Pacific Coast (coastline of 780 miles, Osa Peninsula and Nicoya gulf)

PROVINCE OF GUANACASTE

• most northwestern province of Costa Rica

• capital: Liberia• bordered to the west by the Pacific

Ocean (coastline of about 635 miles)• unspoiled beaches and exotic animals• national parks: Rincón de la Vieja,

Santa Rosa, Palo Verde and Guanacaste National Park

PROVINCE OF GUANACASTE

Tamarindo Beach

Volcano Rincón de la Vieja