Costa Rica Facts - Useful information for Costa Rica adventure travel - Costa Rica map

News Clips and Reviews

Finding the Real Gold in Costa Rica

by Linda Ballou

After nine days of non-stop fun on a multi-sport adventure with Active South America in Costa Rica, floating belly-up in a secluded cove at Playa Coyote gave me a chance to savor the journey. A morning swim in placid waters beneath pastel pink heavens soothed muscles put to tests that included mountain biking, white water rafting, pony trekking, hiking in rain forests, kayaking across blue-green depths to a picnic on a palm-studded island, and a night patrol with turtle conservationists along a strand of deserted beach. These were just a few of the high points of this holiday designed for those who want to breathe deeply of the landscape. Read more...

Location and Size

Costa Rica is the southernmost country in Central America, located on the Fartnel American Isthmus joining the North and South American continents. It shares a border with Panama to the South and Nicaragua to the north, comprising 50,660 km² (19,000 sq. miles) of land, making it slightly smaller than the US state of West Virginia but larger than Switzerland. It's bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the east and the North Pacific Ocean to the west, with a total of 1,290 km or 800 miles of coastline.

A (very) Brief History of Costa Rica

Although signs of civilization can be traced back more than 10,000 years in Costa Rica, its only major archaeological site was discovered at Guayabo, 30 miles east of San Jose. Currently being excavated, it is thought to be a relatively small ancient city dating back to 1000 B.C. with only 10,000 inhabitants at its peak.

Then as now, the Ticos prefer to keep it simple. By the time Christopher Columbus, the first European explorer to encounter Costa Rica, arrived near Limon in 1502 on his third and last voyage to the Americas, there was thought to be only about 20,000 indigenous inhabitants living mainly in autonomous tribes and little sign of the major communities or impressive stone architecture found in nearby regions such as Mexico and Peru. But the golden bands worn by the region's inhabitants in their ears and noses inspired Columbus's crew to name this country "rich coast".

But the hostile natives, inhospitable jungles and swamps and disease discouraged more treasure hunters and Spanish colonizers for the next 50 years or so. In 1562, the Spanish installed a governor and established Cartago as the capital the following year. With no Indian slaves, the impoverished colony was largely ignored until the late 18th century, when wheat and tobacco exports began.

A brief civil war was fought in 1823 to settle the question of whether Costa Rica should join newly independent Mexico. The leaders in San Jose won and instead Costa Rica joined the new confederation of Central American states that had gained independence from Spain.

The next century saw the establishment of coffee barons, an emphasis on public education, a brief military dictatorship and eventually a transition to full democracy. Today, thanks in part to another civil war in the 1940s won by Jose Maria Figueres Ferrer (popularly known as Don Pepe), who introduced wide-reaching political and social reforms, Costa Rica has earned the reputation of "Central America's Switzerland" - a stable, peaceful democracy with no standing military surrounded by some of the world's most politically unstable regions. President Oscar Arias Sanchez followed up by winning a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a peace plan in 1987 among 5 Central American presidents.

Industry

Tourism is the second highest revenue generator, after electric circuits and microstructures. Main industries include electronics, food processing, apparel, construction materials and plastic products. Its main exports are electronic components, textiles, bananas, coffee, pineapples, telephone equipment, medicines and seafood.

Climate & average temperature chart

Costa Rica is tropical year round and temperatures don't vary much throughout the year but the temperature and humidity is very dependent on altitude and which coast you're on. But generally speaking, Costa Rica's "dry season" runs from December to April while the "rainy season" is from May to November. Although on the Caribbean coast (the eastern side), December is usually the wettest month.

Time Zone

Costa Rica is in Central Standard Time (CST) with no daylight savings.

Currency and Exchange Rates

Costa Rica's currency, the colón (or colones plural) is artificially locked at about 520 per US dollar or 675 to the Euro. So think of a ¢5,000 note as US$10 and ¢10,000 as US$20 bucks. It's best to exchange money either in banks, "Casas de Cambio", or hotel cashiers in San José rather than at the airport booths.

Population

Costa Rica has a population of roughly 4.2 million as of 2008.

Capital city

San José is the capital of Costa Rica, with a population of about 1 million.

Airports

The main international airport is located in Alajuela, just outside of downtown San José. The smaller Daniel Oduber International Airport is located in Liberia, in Guanacaste, close to the beach resorts in the Northwest. There are also plenty of small airstrips around the country, as flying domestically in small planes (we're talking 2 to 6 seater planes!) is the easiest way to get to some of the more remote parts of the country. Keep in mind if you're arriving in San José and carrying on, domestic flights generally leave from Pavas, the domestic airport near San Jose, so you'll need an airport transfer or to grab a taxi.

Costa Rica flag

Political Environment

Costa Rica maintains a traditional and stable democracy and is one of the safest places to visit in Central and South America. The Army was abolished in 1949 (yes, you read that correctly), which leaves plenty of resources for education and public services.

Official Language

Spanish is the official language in Costa Rica, but English is widely taught and spoken here. There is a very high 94.7% literacy rate so you'll find it fairly easy to communicate with the locals. There are lots of Spanish language schools in Costa Rica because the dialect is so pure and "textbook."

Conservation

Costa Rica puts it money where its mouth is when it comes to preserving its natural resources. As one of the pioneers of ecotourism, it has 32 national parks and 12 biological reserves covering 525,000 hectares (1.3 million acres) or 10.3% of the country, which is a larger proportion of its national territory than any other country in the world. An additional 17% of the national land is legally set aside for forest reserves, buffer zones, wildlife refuges and Indian reserves.

Terrain

Costa Rica may be small but it is also one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world. A chain or volcanoes runs the length of the country, which makes the Pacific or western coast quite different than the Caribbean or eastern coast. There's a broad spectrum of ecosystems covering 12 ecological zones including coral reefs off shore, mangroves that often blend salt and fresh water, dense rainforests, tropical dry forests in Guanacaste, higher elevation rainforests that sits in the misty cloud layer known as cloud forests, and the hardy Paramo at the highest peaks.

The lowest elevation in the country is the Pacific Ocean at sea level and Cerro Chirripo, a volcanic mountain, is the highest point with an elevation of 3,810 m (12,500 feet). Up here on a clear day, you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific from the top.

Electric voltage

The voltage in Costa Rica is 110V or 220V depending on where you are.

Food

You will definitely eat well in Costa Rica! The cuisine is quite similar to Mexican food - most traditional dishes are a combination of rice (arroz), beans (frijoles), some sort of meat (carne) or seafood, and cooked vegetables (picadillo) spiced with onions, garlic, cilantro and red or green peppers. Plantains are used in both savory and sweet dishes and there are endless variations using cornmeal such as tortillas, empanadas, tacos and tamales. Try some frescas, which are fresh fruit smoothies made with water or milk.

Costa Rica Travel

Learn more about Costa Rica on our 12-day Macaw: Costa Rica wildlife adventure (runs year round), 11-day Quetzal: Costa Rica adventure (runs May through November) or our 11-day Iguana: Costa Rica travel tour (runs December through April).