COSTA RICA!!! BY: ASIA & AYANNA

BASIC GEOGRAPHY... Costa Rica is in Central America and borders both the Caribbean sea and North Pacific ocean, its between Nicaragua and panama. Slightly smaller than west Virginia Costa Rica is 31,752 miles Capital- San Jose Climate- tropical & subtropical. Natural Resources- Hydropower, Fishery products & forest products.

Demographics &Economy... Population- 4,253,877 Mortality Rate- 4.31 deaths/1,000 people Literacy Rate- Male- 94.7%, Female- 95.1% GDP- $30.38 billion U.S. $14.33 trillion Government & Leadership- Democratic republic, the president is Oscar Arias Sanchez Costa Rican money is called “Colones”. Costa Rican Colones per U.S. dollar is $530.41

History... Gained independence from Spain on: September 15th, 1821 Juan Mora Fernández- was the first head of state (1824) His progressive liberal leadership helped Costa Rica to develop independently He built roads, established schools, and distributed land grants to anyone willing to plant coffee

Religions... Spanish is the official language but they also speak some English Religions- Roman Catholic- 76.3%, Evangelical-13.7%, Jehovahs witnesses-1.3%, Other-4%

Marriage & Dating Customs... In Costa Rica the church has a large influence. You must be over 18 to get married Those under 18 but over 15 with parental consent can get married A woman must wait 300 days from the death of her husband or the date of her divorce decree before she is allowed to remarry.

Who is the leader of Costa Rica?? Oscar Arias Sanchez is the president of Costa Rica. Born in 1940 Became president in 1986 He won with 52.3% of the votes over 45.8%

Issues in Costa Rica... Over crowding from refugees- 9,699-11,500 Human trafficking Drugs *shipping of cocaine & heroin *illegal production of marijuana *cocaine consumption is rising *consumption of Amphetamines

Environmental Issues... Deforestation Soil erosion Coastal marine pollution Fisheries protection Solid waste management Air pollution

Resources... 1)http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Facts+on+Costa+Rica&page=1&qsrc=6&ab=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infoplease.com%2Fipa%2FA0107430.html 2) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html 3)http://www.wordtravels.com/images/map/Costa_Rica_map.jpg 4) http://www.geographia.com/costa-rica/history.htm