Costa Rica Information and Statistics

Costa Rica is a country in Central America.

Geography:

• 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
• Climate:tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands
• Costa Rica is slightly smaller than West Virginia
• 130th largest country in world - ~200 countries total 
• Important Cities - San Jose (capital), Puerto Limon, San Francisco, Alajuela  

 Economy:

• GDP - $55.73 billion 
• Exports: bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar; beef; seafood; electronic components, medical equipment  
• Imports:raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum, construction materials 
• 4.9% inflation rate 
• Exchange Rate: Costa Rican colones (CRC) per US dollar -505.66 (2011 est.)
•  Urbanization Rate - 2.1% annual rate of change
•  Unemployment rate: 6.5%
•  Jobs:
  • agriculture: 14% (bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef, poultry, dairy; timber)
  • industry: 22%(microprocessors, food processing, medical equipment, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products)
  • services: 64% (2006 est.)
  
  

People:

•  Population - 4,636,348 people
•  Life Expectancy - 77.89 years old
•  Literacy Rate - 94.9%
• Population below the poverty line: 24.2% (2010 est.) 
• Unemployment rate: 6.5%
• Urban Population - 64% of total population
• Native American Tribes:
  • Boruca (still some remaining)
  • Bribri (still some remaining)
  • Cabecar
  • Changuena
  • Chorotega
  • Corobici
  • Dorasque
  • Guatuso
  • Guetar
  • Teribe  
   

Elki Spino and Maxine Taylor