About Costa Rica

GOVERNMENT

Costa Rica is a democratic republic and it’s system of government is very similar to that of the United States of America. Under the 1949 constitution, all citizens are guaranteed equality before the law, the right to own property, the right of petititon and assembly, freedom of speech and the right of habeas corpus.

There are three branches of government: the Executive, which consists of the president, two vice presidents and advisors, the Legislative Assembly, with 57 individually elected deputies, and the Judicial Branch, which consists of civil, criminal, appellate and constitutional courts. The President and members of the Legislative Assembly are elected for four-year terms but the president can't run for reelection.
The two main parties are the National Liberation Party (PLN) and the United Social Christian Party (PUSC).

The current president is Oscar Arias

NATIONAL PARKS

Costa Rica's National Parks System protects examples of nearly all the ecosystems that exist in the country, covering about 14 percent of the national territory. Those parks and protected areas are not only great places for hiking and observing wildlife, but some of them also include great spots for skin diving, spelunking, surfing and other outdoor activities. No matter what your vacation priorities, you'll want to visit at least a couple national parks or other protected areas. In addition to the national parks, there are a variety of other areas that enjoy some degree of protection, such as wildlife refuges and biological reserves, and a growing number of private preserves.

Covering only 0.03 percent of the planet's surface, Costa Rica has 5 percent of all life forms on earth. It may be the only country in the world to have so many bird species and habitats within such a small area.

RIVERS AND LAKES

Copious rainfall has endowed Costa Rica with an abundance of rivers, but surprisingly, there are very few lakes. Nearly all the country's rivers begin in the mountains, where many are frothy white water routes perfect for rafting and kayaking. Once those rivers flow into the lowlands, however, they become languid waterways, many of which are lined with verdant walls of vegetation. Those lowland rivers are excellent routes for trips in small boats, which allow passengers to observe some of the local flora and fauna. The seasonal lake of Caño Negro is also an excellent spot for wildlife watching, whereas larger Lake Arenal is a popular windsurfing spot..

Lowland Rivers
A trip down one of Costa Rica's lowland rivers, either in a small boat or rubber raft, can be an excellent way to observe some of the country's extraordinary wildlife. The trees that line most river banks may hold lounging iguanas, troops of monkeys and such birds as ospreys, anhingas, colorful kingfishers, several species of herons and tiny mangrove swallows. Boat trips are offered on such lowland rivers as the Sarapiqui, San Carlos and Rio Frio, in the Northern Zone, and the Tempisque, Bebedero and Corobici, in the Northwest.

Caribbean Canals
The most popular lowland waterway trip heads up the Caribbean Canals, which run along the Atlantic coast north from the port of Moin to the communities of Parismina, Tortuguero, and Barra del Colorado. Most travelers head to Tortuguero National Park, which protects an important sea turtle nesting beach and vast expanses of lowland rainforest and swampy yolillal palm forests. A trip down any stretch of the canals is a true jungle adventure, offering opportunities to spot such animals as crocodiles, three-toed sloths, oropendolas and boat billed herons. They also offer world-class fishing for tarpon, snook and other species.

Lake Arenal
Actually the reservoir for the country's most important hydroelectric project, Lake Arenal is a vast body of water surrounded by rolling hills that hold pastures and patches of forest. Towering over the lake's eastern end is the conical form of Arenal Volcano, which regularly erupts spewing streams of lava and great clouds of ash. Though everyone who drives around the lake is impressed by the scenery, Arenal is especially popular with fishermen and windsurfers. The anglers are drawn there by the guapote, or rainbow bass, a feisty fish that thrives in the lake's waters. The windsurfers gather at the western end of Lake Arenal, where strong and consistent winds making it one of the world's premier windsurfing spots.

Caño Negro
Caño Negro, a shallow, seasonal lake near the country's northern border, is a bird watchers paradise during the second half of the year, when great flocks of ducks, herons and other waterfowl gather there. Cano Negro has been designated a wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR convention. Representations of Caño negro on most maps are actually misleading, since they show the lake's extension at the height of the rainy season. Once the rains die down in December, the lake rapidly shrinks, and by February it disappears completely, and most of the waterfowl has moved onto the Rio Frio -- the river that Caño Negro drains into. The river trip on the Rio Frio, which is the most common way of reaching Caño Negro, is consequently often more nteresting that actually visiting the lake.

FOREST

The country's forests sometimes seem like the biological equivalent of a cathedral; those giant tropical trees have the appearance of columns, and the canopy they support holds a collection of epyphitic vegetation more complex than the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Mother Nature seems to work overtime in the tropics, and the consequent diversity of forests has been classified by biologists into a dozen different life zones.

However, most of those forests can be lumped into three more general groups: rain, cloud and dry forests. Rain forests, with their massive trees, very high canopies and little growing on the dimly lit forest floor, can be found in the Atlantic lowlands and the southwest. The northwest contains some of the last remnants of the tropical dry forest, a less exuberant life zone that shares much of the diversity of the rain forests. Cloud forests, which cover the upper slopes of most mountains and volcanoes, are the most luxuriant of the tropical forests, with mosses and other small plants covering the trunks and branches of trees. They are all beautiful, and in many ways similar, but each one has plants and animals that won't be found in the rest.

CLIMATE

Costa Rica is a tropical country which contains several distinct climatic zones. There is no winter or summer as such and most regions have a rainy season from Jun to November and a dry season from December to May. Annual rainfall averages 100 inches nationwide with some mountainous regions getting as much as 25 feet on exposed eastern slopes. Temperature is more a matter of elevation than location with a mean of around 72 degrees in the Central Valley, 82 degrees on the Atlantic coast and 89 degrees on the Pacific coast.

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Citizens of the U.S., Canada may enter Costa Rica with a tourist card and one other piece of identification e.g. passport, driver's license or birth certificate. Tourist cards can be obtained in advance from any Costa Rican embassy or consulate and are valid for 30 days. No passport or visa is needed. If you want to stay longer, a valid passport allows Canadians and Americans to stay for up to 90 days. Citizens of all other countries require a valid passport to enter Costa Rica. You are required to carry your passport or tourist card with you at all times. If by any chance I.D. is required by officials during your stay, usually a photocopy of your passport showing your photo, passport number and entry stamp will usually suffice.

STATISTICS

Area - 50,895 square kilometers
Capital - San Jose (pop. 500,000)

Population - 3.3 million
Language - Spanish

Location - Central America. It borders North with Nicaragua and South with Panama (between 8 and 11 degrees north of the equator)
Currency - Colón (Floats, currently $1 US = about 265) In 5,000, 1,000, 500, 100 and 50 bills.
Religion - More than 90 percent of Costa Ricans are Roman Catholic.