_#_Climate: tropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season
(May to November)
_#_Terrain: coastal plains separated by rugged mountains
_#_Natural resources: hydropower potential
_#_Land use: arable land 6%; permanent crops 7%; meadows and pastures
45%; forest and woodland 34%; other 8%; includes irrigated 1%
_#_Environment: subject to occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along
Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season;
active volcanoes; deforestation; soil erosion
_*_People
_#_Population: 3,111,403 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 4 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 15 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 79 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 3.2 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Costa Rican(s); adjective--Costa Rican
_#_Ethnic divisions: white (including mestizo) 96%, black 2%, Indian
1%, Chinese 1%
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 95%
_#_Language: Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon
_#_Literacy: 93% (male 93%, female 93%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 868,300; industry and commerce 35.1%, government and
services 33%, agriculture 27%, other 4.9% (1985 est.)
_#_Organized labor: 15.1% of labor force
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Costa Rica
_#_Type: democratic republic
_#_Capital: San Jose
_#_Administrative divisions: 7 provinces (provincias,
singular--provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon,
Puntarenas, San Jose
_#_Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
_#_Constitution: 9 November 1949
_#_Legal system: based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of
legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
_#_Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea
Legislativa)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Rafael Angel
CALDERON Fournier (since 8 May 1990); First Vice President German
SERRANO Pinto (since 8 May 1990); Second Vice President Arnoldo LOPEZ
Echandi (since 8 May 1990)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
National Liberation Party (PLN), Rolando ARAYA Monge;
Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), Rafael Angel CALDERON Fournier;
Marxist Popular Vanguard Party (PVP), Humberto VARGAS Carbonell;
New Republic Movement (MNR), Sergio Erick ARDON Ramirez;
Progressive Party (PP), Isaac Felipe AZOFEIFA Bolanos;
People's Party of Costa Rica (PPC), Lenin ChACON Vargas;
Radical Democratic Party (PRD), Juan Jose ECHEVERRIA Brealey
_#_Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
_#_Elections:
President--last held 4 February 1990 (next to be held February
1994);
results--Rafael Angel CALDERON Fournier 51%, Carlos Manuel
CASTILLO 47%;
Legislative Assembly--last held 4 February 1990 (next to be held
February 1994);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(57 total) PUSC 29, PLN 25, PVP/PPC 1, regional parties 2
_#_Communists: 7,500 members and sympathizers
_#_Other political or pressure groups: Costa Rican Confederation of
Democratic Workers (CCTD; Liberation Party affiliate), Confederated Union
of Workers (CUT; Communist Party affiliate), Authentic Confederation of
Democratic Workers (CATD; Communist Party affiliate), Chamber of Coffee
Growers, National Association for Economic Development (ANFE), Free Costa
Rica Movement (MCRL; rightwing militants), National Association of
Educators (ANDE)
_#_Member of: AG (observer), BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), LORCS, NAM (observer),
OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Gonzalo FACIO Segreda;
Chancery at Suite 211, 1825 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009;
telephone (202) 234-2945 through 2947; there are Costa Rican Consulates
General at Albuquerque, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans,
New York, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico),
and Tampa, and Consulates in Austin, Buffalo, Honolulu, and Raleigh;
US--Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Robert O. HOMME;
Embassy at Pavas Road, San Jose (mailing address is APO Miami 34020);
telephone [506] 20-39-39
_#_Flag: five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double
width), white, and blue with the coat of arms in a white disk on the
hoist side of the red band
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: In 1990 the economy grew at an estimated 3.5%
rate, a decrease from the strong 5.0% gain of the previous year.
Gains in agricultural production (on the strength of good coffee and
banana crops) and in construction, were partially offset by lower
rates of growth for industry. In 1990 consumer prices rose by about 25%
and the trade deficit widened. Unemployment is officially reported at
6%, but much underemployment remains. External debt, on a per
capita basis, is among the world's highest.
_#_GDP: $5.5 billion, per capita $1,810; real growth rate 3.6% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 25% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 6% (1990)
_#_Budget: revenues $831 million; expenditures $1.08 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)
_#_Exports: $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--coffee, bananas, textiles, sugar;
partners--US 75%, FRG, Guatemala, Netherlands, UK, Japan
_#_Imports: $1.8 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--petroleum, machinery, consumer durables, chemicals,
fertilizer, foodstuffs;
partners--US 35%, Japan, Guatemala, FRG
_#_External debt: $4.5 billion (1989)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 2.3% (1990 est.); accounts for
23% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 927,000 kW capacity; 2,987 million kWh produced,
980 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing, construction
materials, fertilizer, plastic products
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 20-25% of GDP and 70% of exports; cash
commodities--coffee, beef, bananas, sugar; other food crops include corn,
rice, beans, potatoes; normally self-sufficient in food except for
grain; depletion of forest resources resulting in lower timber output
_#_Illicit drugs: illicit production of cannabis on small scattered
plots; transshipment country for cocaine from South America
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.4
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $781 million; Communist countries (1971-88), $27 million
_#_Currency: Costa Rican colon (plural--colones);
1 Costa Rican colon (C) = 100 centimos
_#_Exchange rates: Costa Rican colones (C) per US$1--105.82 (January
1991), 91.58 (1990), 81.504 (1989), 75.805 (1988), 62.776 (1987), 55.986
(1986), 50.453 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 950 km total, all 1.067-meter gauge; 260 km electrified
_#_Highways: 15,400 km total; 7,030 km paved, 7,010 km gravel,
1,360 km unimproved earth
_#_Inland waterways: about 730 km, seasonally navigable
_#_Pipelines: refined products, 176 km
_#_Ports: Puerto Limon, Caldera, Golfito, Moin, Puntarenas
_#_Merchant marine: 12 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 2,831 GRT/4,506 DWT
_#_Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 173 total, 159 usable; 26 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
11 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: very good domestic telephone service; 292,000
telephones; connection into Central American Microwave System;
stations--71 AM, no FM, 18 TV, 13 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
earth station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Civil Guard, Rural Assistance Guard; note--Constitution
prohibits armed forces
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 807,853; 545,541 fit for
military service; 32,149 reach military age (18) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $20 million, 0.4% of GDP (1988)
_%_
_@_Cuba
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 110,860 km2; land area: 110,860 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
_#_Land boundary: 29.1 km with US Naval Base at Guantanamo;
note--Guantanamo is leased and as such remains part of Cuba
_#_Coastline: 3,735 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;