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Republic of Costa Rica
*República de Costa Rica* (Spanish)
Republic of Costa Rica República de Costa Rica (Spanish)
	Flag Coat of arms
	Anthem: "Himno Nacional de Costa Rica" (Spanish); "National Anthem of Costa Rica"
ISO 3166 code	CR

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The Costa Rica Portal

Introduction

Costa Rica (UK: /ˌkɒstə ˈriːkə/, US: /ˌkoʊstə-/ ^ⓘ; Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika]; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in the Central American region of North America. Costa Rica is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million0 in a land area of 51,060 km² (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

The sovereign state is a unitary presidential constitutional republic. It has a long-standing and stable democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Many foreign manufacturing and services companies operate in Costa Rica's Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives.

Costa Rica was inhabited by indigenous peoples before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the Federal Republic of Central America, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Following the brief Costa Rican Civil War in 1948, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army. (Full article...)

The Costa Rica Quiz

How many provinces is Costa Rica divided into?

Hint

Fewer than

Canada, but more than

Pakistan.

Answer

Costa Rica has seven provinces.

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Juan Santamaría International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) (IATA: SJO, ICAO: MROC) is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in Alajuela Province, 20 kilometres (12 mi; 11 nmi) northwest of downtown San José. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero, Juan Santamaría, a drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by William Walker, an American filibuster. It is the biggest and busiest airport in Costa Rica and second in Central America with more than 5 million passengers per year before COVID

The airport is a hub for Avianca Costa Rica, Costa Rica Green Airways, Sansa Airlines, and Volaris Costa Rica and a focus city for Avianca El Salvador and Copa Airlines. It was the country's only international gateway for many years, before the opening of the international airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. Both airports have direct flights to North and Central America and Europe, but Juan Santamaría International Airport also serves cities in South America and the Caribbean. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that in August 2021 Sheika Scott became the youngest player to score in the Costa Rican Women's Premier Division, at just 14 years old?
... that Marita Camacho Quirós, who was First Lady of Costa Rica (1962–1966), is the oldest former first lady in the world and a supercentenarian?
... that goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Rican player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup?
... that footballer Alexandra Pinell scored the Costa Rica U20 team's only goal at the FIFA tournament hosted by their country?
... that to animate conquistadors in Jungle Cruise, frogs were recorded in a Costa Rican forest?
... that while Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios was exiled from Nicaragua and living in Costa Rica in the 1980s, his sister Claudia was there as Nicaragua’s ambassador?

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...that John Biehl, a Chilean government minister in the 1990s, led the successful campaign for Costa Rican president Óscar Arias' 1987 Nobel Peace Prize?

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Related portals

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Image 1The extent of Costa Rica's western EEZ in the Pacific (from Costa Rica)
Image 2Barack Obama and Laura Chinchilla with Costa Rican children in San José (from Costa Rica)
Image 3Countries (in blue) which have signed Free Trade Agreements with Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 4Costa Rica map of Köppen climate classification (from Costa Rica)
Image 5Las Carretas (oxcarts) are a national symbol. (from Costa Rica)
Image 6Symbolic act of Costa Rica's army abolition by president José Figueres Ferrer on December 1, 1948, at Cuartel Bellavista (former army headquarters), site which now hosts the National Museum (from Costa Rica)
Image 7A red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 8Gregorio José Ramírez was the most notable political chief of the province of Costa Rica, leading republican forces victorious in the Battle of Ochomogo. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 9The 1849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 10Population pyramid for Costa Rica 2023 (from Costa Rica)
Image 11José Figueres Ferrer's symbolic act of the army's abolition on December 1st, 1948 at Cuartel Bellavista, today the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 12The 1849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862. (from Costa Rica)
Image 13Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, Cartago), during the 2007 pilgrimage (from Costa Rica)
Image 14The Ujarrás historical site in the Orosí Valley, Cartago province. The church was built between 1686 and 1693. (from Costa Rica)
Image 15An industrial park in Heredia (from Costa Rica)
Image 16Costa Rican school children (from Costa Rica)
Image 17Hospital Calderón Guardia, named after the president who instituted universal health care across the country in 1941 (from Costa Rica)
Image 18Typical settlement of the Diquis indigenous people before the arrival of Columbus. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 19Chatham beach on Cocos Island. (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 20Arenal Volcano National Park is one of the country's tourist attractions. (from Costa Rica)
Image 21The scarlet macaw is native to Costa Rica. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 22Gallo Pinto (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 23Costa Rican breakfast with gallo pinto (from Costa Rica)
Image 24The Heliconius doris butterfly (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 25Stone spheres created by the Diquis culture at the National Museum of Costa Rica. The sphere is the icon of the country's cultural identity. (from Costa Rica)
Image 26Costa Rica's tropical landscape (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 27Epiphytes near Santa Elena (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 28Eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 29Provinces 1 Alajuela, 2 Cartago, 3 Guanacaste, 4 Heredia, 5 Limón, 6 Puntarenas, 7 San José (from Costa Rica)
Image 30Costa Rican kids. (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 31Waterfall in the Tenorio Volcano National Park (from Costa Rica)
Image 32The mangrove hummingbird is endemic to Costa Rica and specializes in feeding from the tea mangrove plant with its uniquely shaped beak. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 33The zebra longwing butterfly (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 34The University of Costa Rica is the largest university of the country and one of the most recognizable across Central America (from Costa Rica)
Image 35Real GDP per capita development in Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 36Hospital CIMA in Escazú (from Costa Rica)
Image 37Costa Rica supporters at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil (from Costa Rica)
Image 38Costa Rican Women in traditional dress (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 39Mantled howler monkey, male (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 40Development of life expectancy in Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 41Yigüirro, Costa Rica's national bird (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 42A coffee plantation in the Orosí Valley (from Costa Rica)
Image 43Red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) (from Costa Rica)
Image 44An Intel microprocessor facility in Costa Rica that was, at one time, responsible for 20% of Costa Rican exports and 5% of the country's GDP. (from Costa Rica)
Image 45José María Castro Madriz formally declared Costa Rica as independent from the Federal Republic of Central America in 1848. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 46The golden toad, an amphibian once endemic to Costa Rica, is now extinct. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 47The Rio Celeste (sky blue river) at Tenorio Volcano National Park in Costa Rica. (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)