Country Facts - Costa Rica

The People

Nationality
Costa Rican(s)
Ethnic Composition

Caucasian (including Mestizo)	94%
Black	3%
Amerindian	1%
Chinese	1%
Other	1%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	76.3%
Evangelical	13.7%
Jehovah's Witness	1.3%
Other Protestant	0.7%
Other	4.8%
None	3.2%

Languages Spoken

Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon

Education and Literacy

Primary and secondary education is free. The adult literacy rates stands at 95.5 percent. (1999)

Labor Force

Total: 1.9 million (1999)
By occupation:

Services	58%
Industry	22%
Agriculture	20%

Geography

Land Mass Total

19,729 sq mi (51,100 sq km)

Land

19,559 sq mi (50,660 sq km)

Water

169 sq mi (440 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 397 mi (639 km)

Border countries: Nicaragua 192 mi (309 km), Panama 205 mi (330 km).

Coastline

801 mi (1,290 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

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

Terrain

Coastal plains separated by rugged mountains.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Pacific Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Cerro Chirrip ó 12,500 ft (3,810 m)

Natural Resources

Hydropower

Land use

Arable land	4%
Permanent crops	6%
Other	90%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season; active volcanoes.

Environment - current issues

Deforestation, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching; soil erosion; water pollution (rivers); fisheries protection; solid waste management.

Geography Note

Four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65.

Demographics

Population

3,834,934 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	30.8%	Male: 603,270	Female: 575,766
15-64 years:	63.9%	Male: 1,239,618	Female: 1,211,641
65 years and over:	5.3%	Male: 95,182	Female: 109,457

Growth Rate

1.61% (2002)

Life Expectancy

76.22 years (2002)
female: 78.89 years
male: 73.68 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$8,500 (2001)

Infant Mortality

10.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.87 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.02 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Costa Rica's basically stable economy depends on tourism, agriculture, and electronics exports. Poverty has been substantially reduced over the past 15 years, and a strong social safety net has been put into place. Economic growth has rebounded from -- 0.9 percent in 1996 to 4 percent in 1997, 6 percent in 1998, and 7 percent in 1999. Inflation rose to 22.5 percent in 1995, dropped to 11.1 percent in 1997, 12 percent in 1998, and 11 percent in 1999. Large government deficits --fueled by interest payments on the massive internal debt --have undermined efforts to maintain the quality of social services. Curbing inflation, reducing the deficit, and improving public sector efficiency remain key challenges to the government. Political resistance to privatization has stalled liberalization efforts. Further trouble can be found at the end of 2002 in the US$8 billion in total public debt, which is sizeable in a nation of just 4 million people. The internal debt alone approaches US$5 billion, which represents 40 percent of the budget. Although Colombia's unemployment rate is not dissimilar to many E.U. countries, it still has 20 percent of its population below the poverty line.

Unemployment

5.2% (2000)

Inflation Rate

12.1% (2001)

Industries

Microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products.

Exports

US$5 billion (2001)

Imports

US$6.5 billion (2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$31.9 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 51.8%, EU 20%, Central America 10.6%, Puerto Rico 2.8%, Mexico 1.7% (2000)

Top Import Partners

US 53.2%, EU 10.3%, Mexico 6.2%, Venezuela 5.3%, Central America 4.9% (2000)

Top Exports

Coffee, bananas, sugar, textiles, electronic components, electricity.

Top Imports

Raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum, electricity.

Debt - external

US$4.6 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$107.1 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year.

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to noon and 2p.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 11a.m.
Retail	8a.m to noon and 2p.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 8a.m to noon and 2p.m. to 6p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to 3p.m.	Closed
Government	7:30a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Note: Midday closing times may be longer in rural areas and also apply to government offices.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Holy Thursday¹	April 17	April 8	March 24
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Anniversary of the May Revolution	May 25	May 25	May 25
Malvinas Day	June 10	June 10	June 10
Flag Day	June 20	June 20	June 20
Independence Day	July 9	July 9	July 9
Death of General Jose de San Martin	August 17	August 17	August 17
Columbus Day	October 8	October 8	October 8
Immaculate Conception	December 8	December 8	December 8
Christmas Day³	December 25	December 25	December 25
Bank Holiday	December 31	December 31	December 31

¹	Observed the Thursday before Easter. This feast commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, and is one of the oldest rituals of Christian Holy Week. Maundy, or Holy Thursday also marks the beginning of Passover.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press