Costa Rica is a Central-American tourist attraction located below Nicaragua and above Panama. With an area of 50,699 square kilometers, it is one of the smaller republics of Central America, a little smaller than the size of West Virginia. The country is divided into seven provinces; Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, and San Jose.
             The Costa Rican colon is the national currency, you would get about 318.95 colones per US dollar. The population of Costa Rica is about 3.8 million, and the primary religion is Roman Catholic, although about 15 percent of the population is Protestant. The official language is Spanish, as about 96 percent of the people are of Spanish descent, but some English is spoken around Puerto Limon. Other descendants include those of African and Chinese descent.
             The only hazards threatening Costa Rica right now are occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along the Atlantic coast, some flooding during the high point of the rainy season, and active volcanoes. There are four volcanoes in Costa Rica, two of which are active.
             Costa Rica's formal name is the Republic Of Costa Rica. The name Costa Rica was given by Christopher Columbus, and means "rich coast", as the coast is 1,290 kilometers long.
             As far as climate goes, Costa Rica's Meseta Central has the most moderate climate of the entire country. This area of Costa Rica is between 900 and 1,500 meters above sea level, and is a popular area in the nation. Two volcanic ranges, the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Guanacaste extend northward from here and go to the Nicaraguan border. About 24 kilometers from the capital city of San Jose (population 340,000) is the active volcano Irazu, 3,430 meters high. The Meseta Central gets about 150 to 200 centimeters.
             Costa Rica's government is a democratic republic, and is based on the Spanish civil law system. The president is Abel Pacheco, and is both the head of ...