Costa Rica Fun Facts

. The most popular sport to do in Costa Rica is futbol, or well known as soccer.

. White water rafting is very popular.

. The most popular modern instruments in Costa Rica are the guitar and xylophone.

. The national flower of Costa Rica is the Orchid.

Bibliography

Koutnik, Jane.  Culture Smart!  Costa Rica.  London.  Random House, 2005.

Morrison, Marion.  Top Secret Guide to Costa Rica.  London.  Highlights for Children, 2000.

Van Rheenen, Erin.  Living Abroad in Costa Rica.  Berkeley.  Avalon Travel, 2010.

Central Intelligence Agency.  "Economy: Costa Rica."  The World Factbook.  1 January 2013 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html>

World Vision.  "Costa Rica."  World Vision: Building a Better World for Children.  1 January 2013 <http://www.worldvision.org/our-work/international-work/costa-rica>

Costa Rica's Education System

In 1869, Costa Rica was the first country in Latin America to make education free for all children.  In Costa Rica 95% of  the population can read and write.  Children from ages six to fifteen go to school. With the first six years at primaries level.  In three years of the second level students than pass exams can chose to go to a university. There are only six university, Costa Rica has a large range of subjects like law, medicine, sociology, and journalism.

To go to school in Costa Rica would be different because we have to wear uniforms and learn Spanish.

Costa Rica's Government

Costa Rica is one of the oldest and most stable democratic republics, with a President elected for a four year term.   The current President elected in 2010 is Laura Chinchilla, the first female President ever.   Costa Rica's government is divided among the executive, legislative and judicial branches.  The executive branch has the President, two Vice Presidents and 19 cabinet ministers.  The Presidents selects them.  The legislative branch is formed by 57 deputies that are elected every four years like the President.  They represent the seven provinces.  The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court that is divided into four chambers.  There are 22 people in the chambers called magistrates that are chosen by the Legislative Assembly.   The Political Constitution was adopted in 1949.  Costa Ricans are proud of their democracy.  Everyone over 18 is aloud to vote and so they have very high voter turnout.

Legislative Assembly

Costa Rica's Economy

The money in Costa Rica is called the Colon, Colones for plural. Costa Rica's main exports are coffee and bananas.  Other exports are pineapples, melons, ornamental plants, and oil from African palm nuts.   Electronic components are, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical became important exports.  Some of the names of the export companies are John&Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive, and Monsanto.  

Tourism is how Costa Rica makes most of its money.  Because there is a lot of tourist.  So then people pay extra for tour guides.  in 1989 there was about 400,000. Know there is about 2,000,000 million tourist per year.
Tourist in a jungle 

Most people in Costa Rica are middle class however, 25% are very poor.  The average yearly salary is $6,000. The GDP is $55 billion.  

Costa Rica's Social Structure

Costa Ricans are called "Ticos" for short.  Most Costa Ricans are lower middle class, however many are also very poor.  Family is very important to Costa Ricans.  Many grown ups live with their parents while they are in college  until they get married.  They have many large, family parties all year that last all day and end late at night.  Costa Ricans think honor is very important.  They are very friendly but very secretive about their lives.  Many Costa Ricans like to get up early in the morning but they are always late to get somewhere.  It's considered rude to be on time.  A popular saying is "Tico time!"  

Costa Rica's Holidays

Costa Rica has similar holidays like Holy Week. Holy Week is Palm Sunday to Easter.  Palm Sunday was the day that Jesus died.  The week of Holy Week there are street plays with roman soldiers walking the streets for re-enactments of the Pascua.  A few other holidays Costa Ricans celebrate is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  They walk around singing Christmas songs about going to Bethlehem.  Also they celebrate News years eve, people watch fireworks and see bullfights.  Costa Ricans love to celebrate Mother's Day.  On April 11 they celebrate Juan Santamaria Day with parades, music and dance.  He is a hero to Costa Ricans.  Last but not least people celebrate Independence day on September 15. On Independence day there are neighborhood parades and school children carry flags.   

Palm Sunday

Culture in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans have a popular saying "Pura Vida!" which means "Pure Life!" Costa Ricans are very proud of their country. Many people in Costa Rica love to sing and dance.  Cumbia is a very popular dance.  Costa Ricans have a special dance called El baile Tipico which means traditional dance.  

Many people in Costa Rica love to eat beans and vegetables and tropical fruits.  A national dish in Costa Rica is Gallo Pinto which is beans and rice. 

What is the Population in Costa Rica?

Almost all Costa Ricans speak Spanish and 94% of the population is from Spain or from Europe.  Around 5 million people live in Costa Rica, and over half of them live in the Central Valley.  The rest of the population live along the coast and in other provinces.  Some Costa Ricans are natives to the country and live on reservations.  The names of the tribes are Bribri, Cabecar, Boruca and Guayami.  The Atlantic Coast also has an English-speaking population of black Creoles that came from Antilles to work on railroads and banana plantations.

What are Costa Rica's Natural Resources?

One of the natural resources Costs Rica has is coffee which grows from a coffee bean plant. Costa Rica is known for their coffee beans. Many other natural resources grow in Costa Rica like corn, bananas, eggs, squash, guavas, oranges, and rice. They are able to grow a lot because there are so many volcanoes that make the land good for farming.  

 Coffee plants

How's the Climate in Costa Rica?

The climate in Costa Rica is wet and tropical all year round.  Costa Rica has two seasons.  The rainy season is from May until November.  It rains all day long.  The dry season is from December to April.

Costa Rica has many types of animals and lots of rain forests. There are lots of types of monkeys, butterflies, frogs, birds, jaguars, anteaters and sloths.  Costa Rica has many types of sea turtles make their nest on the beaches.  In the ocean there are dolphins, whales and sharks.  Costa Rica also has thousands of different types of insects and spiders.

Costa Rica is known for the Tucan, a black bird with a large, colorful beak.  They can be seen in the rain forests.

Costa Rica's Physical Geography

Costa Rica has four main mountain ranges.  Those four mountain ranges are called the Talamanca range, the Central Volcanic Range, the Tilaran range and the Guanacaste range.  Costa Rica has many national parks.  A few of the most well known are: Tortugeuro, Chirripo, Manuel Antonio, Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest and Cocos Island.  These national parks are very rich in wildlife and have some of the most beautiful rain forests in the world. 

Braulio Carillo

Costa Rica also has many active volcanoes.  They are Arenal, Irazu, Miravalles, Orosi, Rincon de la Vieja, Poas and Turrialba and many more inactive volcanoes.  All of these volcanoes have been around for thousands of years.

Arenal Volcanoe

Where in the World is Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is located in Central America.  Nicaragua is the country north of Costa Rica.  Panama is the country south of Costa Rica.  The Caribbean Sea is to the east of Costa Rica and the Pacific Ocean is to the west of Costa Rica.  It is also exactly nine degrees north of the equator.