COSTA RICA

Costa Rica is located in the southern part of Central America, between Nicaragua and Panama.  It limits to the West with the Pacific Ocean and to the East with the Caribbean Sea. It is 51.000 square kilometers and is divided in 7 provinces: San José (capital), Heredia, Alajuela, Cartago, Limón, Puntarenas and Guanacaste. 4.5 million people conform its population.  The official language is Spanish, however, English is widely spoken. The currency is the “Colón,” but the American dollar is accepted in most of the shops and the euro in specific banks.

The country’s main economic activities are tourism and the exportation of electronic devices.  But the country also exports agricultural products such as coffee, which is well-known worldwide, also meat and dairy products are exported.
 
Costa Rica is known worldwide for its centenary democracy.  The President, Vice-President and the Congressmen are elected by the population for a four year period.  The army was abolished in 1948 and since then, the money that was used for this purpose is invested in education; such is the impact of this wise decision that the literacy rate is one of the highest in Latin America, nowadays.  Primary and secondary school are obligatory for every citizen.  Residents of this country, among other benefits, have a universal social security system.  The country is currently governed by a president who was the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1989 for his persistent struggle for the Peace Plan for Central America to be approved.
Catholicism is the official religion, but thanks to the liberty of cult, several religions coexist peacefully. Costa Rica is known, at times, as the “Switzerland of Central America,” due to its economic and social advances.

Temperature and life zones:

The average temperature is 22oC (72oF) in the Central Valley. The temperature on the coast and the beach areas range from 21 to 32oC (70- 90oF).  According to the Holdridge scale, there are more than 12 life zones in Costa Rica, product of the variety of microclimates, which have produced a plentiful and diversified fauna and flora, making Costa Rica one of the richest places in the world regarding biodiversity. For its greenness and its climate, Costa Rica is considered the “never-ending spring” country.

There is conservation awareness among the population, since national parks became official in 1979. This awareness has been growing, making Costa Rica a vanguard country in ecologic tourism.  Such is the case, that today the country has 25.58% of its territory protected under different types of conservation.  The government is promoting a project called “Peace with Nature” as a policy that will be implemented nationally and will be received by international organizations to be applied world-wide.

Airlines: Traveling to Costa Rica is easy. Since it is located in the middle of Central America, this destination is covered by the best known worldwide airlines.  We are only two and a half hours away from Miami, ten hours from Madrid and twelve hours from Amsterdam (including connections).
We have two international airports: Juan Santamaría, located in Alajuela, only 15 minutes from San José, and the Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, in the North Pacific area.