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 National Name: República de Costa Rica
President: Óscar Arias Sánchez (2006)
Land Area: 19,560 sq mi (50,660 sq km); Total Area: 19,730 sq mi (51,100 sq km)
National Name: República de Costa Rica
President: Óscar Arias Sánchez (2006)
Land Area: 19,560 sq mi (50,660 sq km); Total Area: 19,730 sq mi (51,100 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 4,075,261 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 18.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 9.7/1000; life expectancy: 77.0; density per sq mi: 208
Capital and Largest City: San José, 1,527,300 (metro. area), 337,200 (city proper)
Monetary unit: Colón
Languages: Spanish (official), English
Ethnicity/Race: white (including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1%
Religion: Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2%
Literacy rate: 96% (2003 EST.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $40.44 billion; per capita $10,100. Real growth rate: 3.3%. Inflation: 13.8%. Unemployment: 6.6%.
Arable land: 4%. Agriculture: coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber.
Labor force: 1.82 million; agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 EST.).
Industries: microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products.
Natural resource: hydropower.
Exports: $7.005 billion (2005 est.): coffee, bananas, sugar, pineapples; textiles, electronic components, medical equipment. Imports: $9.69 billion (2005 est.): raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, and petroleum. Major trading partners: U.S., Netherlands, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Brazil (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.132 million (2002); mobile cellular: 528,047 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 65, FM 51, shortwave 19 (2002). Television broadcast stations: 20 (plus 43 repeaters) (2002). Internet hosts: 10,826 (2003).
Internet users: 800,000 (2002).
Transportation: Railways: total: 278 km (2004).
Highways: total: 35,303 km; paved: 4,236 km; unpaved: 31,067 km (2002).
Waterways: 730 km (seasonally navigable by small craft) (2004).
Ports and harbors: Caldera, Puerto Limon. Airports: 149 (2004 EST.).
International disputes: legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on the border with Nicaragua remains unresolved. |
