Country name:

Conventional long form: Republic of Costa Rica
Conventional short form: Costa Rica
Local long form: Republica de Costa Rica
Local short form: Costa Rica

Location:
Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama

Area:
Land: 50,660 sq km
Water: 440 sq km Total: 51,100 sq km

Land boundaries:
Total: 639 km
Border countries: Nicaragua 309 km, Panama 330 km

Coastline:
1,290 km

Capital:
San Jose

Geographic coordinates: 9 56 N, 84 05 W

Time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Climate: Tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands

Terrain:
Coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major volcanoes

Elevation extremes:
Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Highest point: Cerro Chirripo 3,810 m

Environment - International Agreements:
Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling, signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Administrative divisions:
Seven provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose.

Costa Rica is a democratic republic.

Independence:
15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Legal system:
Based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch:
Chief of state: President Oscar ARIAS Sanchez (since 8 May 2006)
Cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president
Elections: president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single four-year term; election last held 5 February 2006 (next to be held in February 2010)
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms) Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly)

Elections: last held 5 February 2006 (next to be held in February 2010)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLN 25, PAC 17, PML 6, PUSC 5, other 4

Costa Rica Population Estimate:
4,504,013 population for 2007, according to world-gazetteer.

Latest Country GNI Estimate:
GNI per capita was US$ 4,670 for 2004, according to the World Bank.

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27.8% (male 587,395/female 560,408)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 1,388,114/female 1,357,157)
65 years and over: 5.8% (male 111,758/female 129,052) (2007 est.)

Median age:
total: 26.8 years
male: 26.3 years
female: 27.2 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.412% (2007 est.)

Birth rate:
18.02 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate:
4.39 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate:
0.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Sex ratio:
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.023 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.866 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
Total: 9.45 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 10.32 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 8.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
Total population: 77.21 years
Male: 74.61 years
Female: 79.94 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2%

Languages:
Spanish (official), English

Literacy:
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 96%
Male: 95.9%
Female: 96.1% (2003 est.)

Exports - partners:
US 29.1%, Netherlands 13%, China 12.5%, UK 6.6% (2006)
Imports:
$10.88 billion (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum
Imports - partners:
US 40.9%, Venezuela 5.4%, Mexico 5.3%, Ireland 4.9%, Japan 4.9%, Brazil 4.6%, China 4% (2006)
Imports:
$9.69 billion (2005 est.)

Electricity Production By Source:

Electricity Production:
7.726 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity Consumption:
7.12 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity Exports:
115 million kWh (2003)
Electricity Imports:
50 million kWh (2003)

Technology
Telephones - main lines in use:
1.351 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.444 million (2006)
Internet Country Code:
cr
Internet Hosts:
12,578 (2005)

Railways:
278 km
Highways:
35,889 km
Airports:
157 (2006)

Costa Rican colon (CRC)
Exchange rates:
Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 560