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Costa Rica is located in Central America 9 degrees north
of the equator with Nicaragua to the north and Panama to
the south.
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Costa
Rica is a democratic republic with no national army and is
the most economically and politically stable nation in Central
America. It is known to be the most peaceful country in all of
Latin America which is evident with the everyday easy-going,
good-hearted demeanor of the Costa Ricans.
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Costa Rica has more teachers than
policemen and has a literacy rate comparable to that of the
most educated industrialized countries in the world.
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Costa Rica
has more protected land than any other country in the world
with approximately 25% of the country being national park or
other conservation areas such as wildlife reserves and refuges.
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Despite
being a small country,
Costa Rica has the most species of plants and
animals per acre than anywhere else in the world. It is home
to about 5% of all known species on Earth including 850 species
of birds, more than 1,400 species of orchids, 10% of the
world’s
butterfly species, six endangered species of the cat
family, six of the world’s eight species of turtles,
and about 160 species of amphibians.
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Costa Rica has more than
60 volcanoes which are part of the Andean-Sierra Madre
range. Seven of those volcanoes are still active.
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Costa Rica’s
climate is characterized as tropical and has 12 different
climatic zones.
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December
through April is the summer season and also the dry season.
With beautiful blue skies and little humidity it is the high
season for visiting Costa Rica. May through early December
is officially the rainy season although with the many microclimates
in the country it will vary by region. May through August generally
has less rain. The rainy season, also labeled the “green
season” for
the lusciousness of the flora, is also an ideal season to visit
Costa Rica. If you are suffering from a hot summer at home
a visit to the tropics is refreshing and revitalizing with the
first part of the day being usually sunny and later cooled with
afternoon rain showers. September and October are two of the
more dry months for the Caribbean area.
