]! ^! Costa Rica is a Central American success story: since the late 19th century, only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development. Although still a largely agricultural country, it has expanded its economy to include strong technology and tourism sectors. The standard of living is relatively high. Land ownership is widespread. 
]" ^" Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama ^# 10 00 N, 84 00 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 51,100 sq km `" 50,660 sq km `# 440 sq km note: includes Isla del Coco ^& slightly smaller than West Virginia ^' `! 639 km `U Nicaragua 309 km, Panama 330 km ^( 1,290 km ^) `$ 12 nm `I 200 nm `J 200 nm ^* tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands ^+ coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major volcanoes ^, `% Pacific Ocean 0 m `& Cerro Chirripo 3,810 m ^- hydropower ^. `' 4.41% `( 5.88% `) 89.71% (2001) ^/ 1,260 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides; active volcanoes ^1 deforestation and land use change, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching and agriculture; soil erosion; coastal marine pollution; fisheries protection; solid waste management; air pollution _J `K 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 `L Marine Life Conservation ^2 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 
]# ^3 4,016,173 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 28.9% (male 593,540/female 566,361) `+ 65.5% (male 1,330,481/female 1,300,664) `, 5.6% (male 104,564/female 120,563) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 26.03 years `- 25.59 years `. 26.5 years (2005 est.) ^6 1.48% (2005 est.) ^7 18.6 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 4.33 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.05 male(s)/female `0 1.05 male(s)/female `+ 1.02 male(s)/female `, 0.87 male(s)/female `1 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 9.95 deaths/1,000 live births `- 10.85 deaths/1,000 live births `. 9 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 76.84 years `- 74.26 years `. 79.55 years (2005 est.) ^= 2.28 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 0.6% (2003 est.) ^? 12,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 900 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Costa Rican(s) `3 Costa Rican ^B white (including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1% ^C Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2% ^D Spanish (official), English ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 96% `- 95.9% `. 96.1% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 Republic of Costa Rica `5 Costa Rica `V Republica de Costa Rica `W Costa Rica ^H democratic republic ^I San Jose ^J 7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose ^K 15 September 1821 (from Spain) ^L Independence Day, 15 September (1821) ^M 7 November 1949 ^N based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal and compulsory ^P `6 President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since 8 May 2002); Second Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government `7 President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since 8 May 2002); Second Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government `8 Cabinet selected by the president `9 president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 3 February 2002; run-off election held 7 April 2002 (next to be held February 2006) `: Abel PACHECO elected president; percent of vote - Abel PACHECO (PUSC) 58%; Rolando ARAYA (PLN) 42% ^Q unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms) `9 last held 3 February 2002 (next to be held 3 February 2006) `: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PUSC 19, PLN 17, PAC 14, PML 6, PRC 1; note - seats by party as of January 2005 - PUSC 19, PLN 16, PAC 8, PML 5, PRC 1, Patriotic Union 3, Homeland First 1, Authentic Member from Heredia 1, Democratic National Alliance 1, independent 2 ^R Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly) ^S Authentic Member from Heredia [Jose SALAS]; Citizen Action Party or PAC [Otton SOLIS]; Costa Rican Renovation Party or PRC [Justo OROZCO]; Democratic Force Party or PFD [Juan Carlos CHAVES Mora]; Democratic National Alliance [Emilia RODRIGUEZ]; General Union Party or PUGEN [Carlos Alberto FERNANDEZ Vega]; Homeland First [Juan Jose VARGAS]; Independent Worker Party or PIO [Jose Alberto CUBERO Carmona]; Libertarian Movement Party or PML [Otto GUEVARA Guth]; National Christian Alliance Party or ANC [Victor GONZALEZ]; National Integration Party or PIN [Walter MUNOZ Cespedes]; National Liberation Party or PLN [Francisco Antonio PACHECO]; National Patriotic Party or PPN [Daniel Enrique REYNOLDS Vargas]; National Rescue Party or PRN [Carlos VARGAS Solano]; Patriotic Union [Humberto ARCE]; Popular Vanguard [Trino BARRANTES Araya]; Social Christian Unity Party or PUSC [Lorena VASQUEZ Badilla] ^T Authentic Confederation of Democratic Workers or CATD (Communist Party affiliate); Chamber of Coffee Growers; Confederated Union of Workers or CUT (Communist Party affiliate); Costa Rican Confederation of Democratic Workers or CCTD (Liberation Party affiliate); Federation of Public Service Workers or FTSP; National Association for Economic Development or ANFE; National Association of Educators or ANDE; Rerum Novarum or CTRN (PLN affiliate) [Gilbert Brown] ^U BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador Tomas DUENAS `O 2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 234-2945 `Q [1] (202) 265-4795 `R Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Tampa `g Austin ^W `N Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Douglas M. BARNES `Z Calle 120 Avenida O, Pavas, San Jose `[ APO AA 34020 `P [506] 220-3939 `Q [506] 519-2305 ^X five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white elliptical disk on the hoist side of the red band; above the coat of arms a light blue ribbon contains the words, AMERICA CENTRAL, and just below it near the top of the coat of arms is a white ribbon with the words, REPUBLICA COSTA RICA 
]% ^Y 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. Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's political stability and high education levels, and tourism continues to bring in foreign exchange. Low prices for coffee and bananas have hurt the agricultural sector. The government continues to grapple with its large deficit and massive internal debt. The reduction of inflation remains a difficult problem because of rises in the price of imports, labor market rigidities, and fiscal deficits. The country also needs to reform its tax system and its pattern of public expenditure. Costa Rica recently concluded negotiations to participate in the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement, which, if ratified by the Costa Rican Legislature, would result in economic reforms and an improved investment climate. ^Z $37.97 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 3.9% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) ^] `; 8.5% `< 29.7% `= 61.8% (2004 est.) ^^ 1.81 million (2004 est.) ^_ agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.) ^` 6.6% (2004 est.) ^a 18% (2004 est.) _! `> 1.1% `? 36.8% (2002) _d 45.9 (1997) _" 11.5% (2004 est.) _P 19.2% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $2.497 billion `A $3.094 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) _Q 58% of GDP (2004 est.) _$ coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber _% microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products _& 3.1% (2004 est.) _' 6.614 billion kWh (2002) _( 5.733 billion kWh (2002) _) 477 million kWh (2002) _* 59 million kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 37,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _X $-980.3 million (2004 est.) _/ $6.184 billion (2004 est.) _0 coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic components, medical equipment _1 US 46.9%, Netherlands 5.3%, Guatemala 4.4% (2004) _2 $7.842 billion (2004 est.) _3 raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum _4 US 46.1%, Japan 5.9%, Mexico 5.1%, Brazil 4.2% (2004) _Y $1.736 billion (2004 est.) _5 $5.962 billion (2004 est.) _7 Costa Rican colon (CRC) _8 Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 437.91 (2004), 398.66 (2003), 359.82 (2002), 328.87 (2001), 308.19 (2000) _9 calendar year 
]& _: 1.132 million (2002) _; 528,047 (2002) _< `B good domestic telephone service in terms of breadth of coverage; restricted cellular telephone service `C point-to-point and point-to-multi-point microwave, fiber-optic, and coaxial cable link rural areas; Internet service is available `D country code - 506; connected to Central American Microwave System; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); two submarine cables (1999) _= AM 65, FM 51, shortwave 19 (2002) _> 20 (plus 43 repeaters) (2002) _? .cr _@ 10,826 (2003) _A 800,000 (2002) 
]' _e `! 278 km `c 278 km 1.067-m gauge (2004) _B `! 35,303 km `E 4,236 km `F 31,067 km (2002) _b 730 km (seasonally navigable by small craft) (2004) _[ refined products 242 km (2004) _C Caldera, Puerto Limon _K `! 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,716 GRT/ DWT by type: passenger/cargo 2 (2005) _D 149 (2004 est.) _E `! 30 `G 2 `^ 2 `_ 18 `T 8 (2004 est.) _L `! 119 `_ 24 `T 95 (2004 est.) 
]( _F no regular military forces; Ministry of Public Security, Government, and Police _M 18 years of age (2004) _] males age 18-49: 997,690 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 829,874 (2005 est.) _^ `` 41,097 (2005 est.) _N $64.2 million (2004) _O 0.4% (2003) 
]) _H legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on the border with Nicaragua remains unresolved _I transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America; illicit production of cannabis on small, scattered plots; domestic cocaine consumption, particularly crack cocaine, is rising 