From the U.S. Dept. of State - Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs

Source: U.S. Dept. of State - Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs - October 2006

 
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2019.htm

 
PROFILE of COSTA RICA

OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Costa Rica 

Geography
Area: 51,100 sq. km (19,730 sq. mi.) about the size of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.
Cities: Capital--San Jose (greater metropolitan area pop. 2.1 million, the greater metropolitan area as defined by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Policy includes the cities of Alajuela, Cartago, and Heredia). Other major cities outside the San Jose capital area--Puntarenas, Limon.
Terrain: A rugged, central range separates the eastern and western coastal plains.
Climate: Mild in the central highlands, tropical and subtropical in coastal areas.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Costa Rican(s).
Population (July 2005 est.): 4.02 million.
Annual growth rate (2005 est.): 1.48%.
Ethnic groups: European and some mestizo 94%, African origin 3%, Chinese 1%, indigenous 1%, other 1%.
Religion: Roman Catholic 76.3%, Protestant approx. 15.7%, others 4.8%, none 3.2%.
Languages: Spanish, with a southwestern Caribbean Creole dialect of English spoken around the Limon area.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--99% grades 1-6, 71% grades 7-9. Literacy--96%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--9.95/1,000. Life expectancy--men 74.26 yrs., women 79.55 yrs.
Work force (2004 est., 1.81 million): Services--71.3%; agriculture--14.6%; industry--14%.

Government
Type: Democratic republic.
Independence: September 15, 1821.
Constitution: November 7, 1949.
Branches: Executive--president (head of government and chief of state) elected for one 4-year term, two vice presidents, Cabinet (15 ministers, two of whom are also vice presidents). Legislative--57-deputy unicameral Legislative Assembly elected at 4-year intervals. Judicial--Supreme Court of Justice (22 magistrates elected by Legislative Assembly for renewable 8-year terms). The offices of the Ombudsman, Comptroller General, and Procurator General assert autonomous oversight of the government.
Subdivisions: Seven provinces, divided into 81 cantons, subdivided into 421 districts.
Political parties: National Liberation Party (PLN), Citizen's Action Party (PAC), Libertarian Movement Party (PML), Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), Costa Rican Renovation Party (PRC), and other smaller parties.
Suffrage: Universal and compulsory at age 18.

Economy
GDP (2004): $18.4 billion.
GDP PPP (2004 est.): $37.97 billion.
Inflation (2005 est.): 14%.
Real growth rate (2004 est.): 3.9%.
Per capita income (2004): $4,670. (PPP $9,600--2004 est.)
Unemployment (2004 est.): 6.6%.
Currency: Costa Rica Colon (CRC).
Natural resources: Hydroelectric power, forest products, fisheries products.
Agriculture (8.5% of GDP): Products--bananas, coffee, beef, sugarcane, rice, dairy products, vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants.
Industry (29.7% of GDP): Types--electronic components, food processing, textiles and apparel, construction materials, cement, fertilizer.
Commerce and tourism (61.8% of GDP): Hotels, restaurants, tourist services, banks, and insurance.
Trade (2004 est.): Exports--$6.18 billion: Integrated circuits, bananas, pineapples, optical/medical equipment, knit and woven apparel, coffee, fish and seafood. Major markets--U.S. 44.1%, Europe 21%, Central America 9%. Imports--$7.84 billion: electronic components, machinery, vehicles, consumer goods, raw materials, chemicals, petroleum products, foods, and fertilizer. Major suppliers--U.S. 45.9%, Europe 10%, Mexico 3.7% Central America 5%, Japan 4.8%, Venezuela 4%.

PEOPLE
Unlike many of their Central American neighbors, present-day Costa Ricans are largely of European rather than mestizo descent; Spain was the primary country of origin. However, an estimated 10% to 15% of the population is Nicaraguan, of fairly recent arrival and primarily of mestizo origin. Descendants of 19th-century Jamaican immigrant workers constitute an English-speaking minority and--at 3% of the population--number about 119,000. Few of the native Indians survived European contact; the indigenous population today numbers about 29,000 or less than 1% of the population.

HISTORY
In 1502, on his fourth and last voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus made the first European landfall in the area. Settlement of Costa Rica began in 1522. For nearly three centuries, Spain administered the region as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under a military governor. The Spanish optimistically called the country "Rich Coast." Finding little gold or other valuable minerals in Costa Rica, however, the Spanish turned to agriculture.

The small landowners' relative poverty, the lack of a large indigenous labor force, the population's ethnic and linguistic homogeneity, and Costa Rica's isolation from the Spanish colonial centers in Mexico and the Andes all contributed to the development of an autonomous and individualistic agrarian society. An egalitarian tradition also arose. This tradition survived the widened class distinctions brought on by the 19th-century introduction of banana and coffee cultivation and consequent accumulations of local wealth.

Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in 1821 in a joint declaration of independence from Spain. Although the newly independent provinces formed a Federation, border disputes broke out among them, adding to the region's turbulent history and conditions. Costa Rica's northern Guanacaste Province was annexed from Nicaragua in one such regional dispute. In 1838, long after the Central American Federation ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign.

An era of peaceful democracy in Costa Rica began in 1899 with elections considered the first truly free and honest ones in the country's history. This began a trend continued until today with only two lapses: in 1917-19, Federico Tinoco ruled as a dictator, and, in 1948, Jose Figueres led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election.

With more than 2,000 dead, the 44-day civil war resulting from this uprising was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history, but the victorious junta drafted a constitution guaranteeing free elections with universal suffrage and the abolition of the military. Figueres became a national hero, winning the first election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 14 presidential elections, the latest in 2006.

GOVERNMENT
Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice presidents and a 15-member cabinet. The president and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for 4-year terms. In April 2003, the Costa Rican Constitutional Court annulled a constitutional reform enacted by the Legislative Assembly in 1969 barring presidents from running for reelection. The law reverted back to the 1949 Constitution, which states that ex-presidents may run for reelection after they have been out of office for two presidential terms, or eight years. Deputies may run for reelection after sitting out one term, or four years.

The electoral process is supervised by an independent Supreme Electoral Tribunal--a commission of three principal magistrates and six alternates selected by the Supreme Court of Justice. Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of Justice, composed of 22 magistrates selected for renewable 8-year terms by the Legislative Assembly, and subsidiary courts. A Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, established in 1989, reviews the constitutionality of legislation and executive decrees and all habeas corpus warrants.

The offices of the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Solicitor General, and the Ombudsman exercise oversight of the government. The Comptroller General's office has a statutory responsibility to scrutinize all but the smallest public sector contracts and strictly enforces procedural requirements.

There are provincial boundaries for administrative purposes, but no elected provincial officials. Costa Rica held its first mayoral elections in December 2002, whereby mayors were elected by popular vote through general elections. Prior to 2002, the office of mayor did not exist and the president of the municipal council was responsible for the administration of each municipality. The most significant change has been to transfer the governing authority from a position filled via an indirect popular vote to one filled by a direct popular vote. Municipal council presidents are elected through internal elections conducted by council members each year, but mayors are elected directly by the populace through general elections. All council members are elected in a general election process. Autonomous state agencies enjoy considerable operational independence; they include the telecommunications and electrical power monopoly, the state petroleum refinery, the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly, and the social security agency. Costa Rica has no military and maintains only domestic police and security forces for internal security. A professional Coast Guard was established in 2000.

Principal Government Officials
President--Oscar ARIAS Sanchez
Foreign Minister--Bruno STAGNO Ugarte
Ambassador to the United States--Tomás DUEÑAS
Ambassador to the Organization of American States--Javier SANCHO Bonilla
Ambassador to the United Nations-- Jorge URBINA

Costa Rica maintains an embassy in the United States at 2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-234-2945 and 202-234-2946).

POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Costa Rica has long emphasized the development of democracy and respect for human rights. Until recently, the country's political system has steadily developed and maintained democratic institutions and an orderly, constitutional scheme for government succession. Several factors have contributed to this tendency, including enlightened leadership, comparative prosperity, flexible class lines, educational opportunities that have created a stable middle class, and high social indicators. Also, because Costa Rica has no armed forces, it has avoided the possibility of political intrusiveness by the military that other countries in the region have experienced.

In May 2006, President Oscar Arias of the National Liberation Party (PLN) assumed office, defeating principal rival Ottón Solis of the Civil Action Party by roughly 2% of the vote. Arias has listed passage of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), along with fiscal reform, infrastructure improvements, furthering education, and improving security as primary goals for his presidency. The 57-member unicameral Legislative Assembly has five principal party factions, with the governing party, PLN, having a 25-seat plurality.

ECONOMY
After four years of slow economic growth, the Costa Rican economy grew at nearly 4% in 2004. Compared with its Central American neighbors, Costa Rica has achieved a high standard of living, with a per capita income of about U.S. $4,700, and an unemployment rate of 6.6%. The annual inflation rate hovers around 14% as the Costa Rican Government seeks to reduce a large fiscal deficit.

Controlling the budget deficit remains the single-biggest challenge for the country's economic policymakers, as interest costs on the accumulated central government consumed the equivalent of 32.1% in 2003 of the government's total revenues. About 18.9% of the national budget was financed by public borrowing. This limits the resources available for investments in the country's deteriorated public infrastructure.

Costa Rica's major economic resources are its fertile land and frequent rainfall, its well-educated population, and its location in the Central American isthmus, which provides easy access to North and South American markets and direct ocean access to the European and Asian Continents. One-fourth of Costa Rica's land is dedicated to national forests, often adjoining picturesque beaches, which has made the country a popular destination for affluent retirees and eco-tourists.

Costa Rica used to be known principally as a producer of bananas and coffee, but pineapples have surpassed coffee as the number two agricultural export. In recent years, Costa Rica has successfully attracted important investments by such companies as Intel Corporation, which employs nearly 2,000 people at its $300 million microprocessor plant; Proctor and Gamble, which employs nearly 1,000 people in its administrative center for the Western Hemisphere; and Hospira and Baxter Healthcare from the health care products industry. Manufacturing and industry's contribution to GDP overtook agriculture over the course of the 1990s, led by foreign investment in Costa Rica's free trade zone. Well over half of that investment has come from the United States. Dole and Chiquita have a large presence in the banana industry. Two-way trade exceeded U.S. $6.6 billion in 2004.

Costa Rica has oil deposits off its Atlantic Coast, but the Pacheco administration (2002-2006) decided not to develop the deposits for environmental reasons. The country’s mountainous terrain and abundant rainfall have permitted the construction of a dozen hydroelectric power plants, making it largely self-sufficient in electricity, but it is completely reliant on imports for liquid fuels. Costa Rica has the potential to become a major electricity exporter if plans for new generating plants and a regional distribution grid are realized. Mild climate and trade winds make neither heating nor cooling necessary, particularly in the highland cities and towns where some 90% of the population lives.