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Costa Rica

Costa Rica
General information
Common nameCosta Rica
Local name 
Name 
Motto" " (Spanish)
"Long live work and peace"
Anthem
  (Spanish)
Noble homeland, your beautiful flag
CapitalSan José
Largest citySan José
Official languagesSpanish
Regional languagesMekatelyu, Bribri
DemonymCosta Rican; Tico
Government
GovernmentConstitutional democracy
(Presidential republic)
PresidentLaura Chinchilla
1st Vice-PresidentAlfio Piva
2nd Vice-PresidentLuis Liberman
IndependenceIndependence (Declared)
from SpainSeptember 15, 1821
from Mexico (the First Mexican Empire)July 1, 1823
from United Provinces of Central AmericaMarch 21, 1847
Recognized by SpainMay 10, 1850
ConstitutionNovember 7, 1949
Geography
Total Area19653 sq mi (50901.3 km2) (128th)
Water %0.7
Demography
Population Est.4608426 (123rd)
Density (pop.)84.9/km2 (107th) (220/sq mi)
Economy
GDP PPP$51.166 billion (2010)
GDP (PPP) per capita$11,215
GDP (nominal)$35.780 billion (2010)
GDP (nominal) per capita$7,843
Other information
Gini50 (2009) (high)
HDI(-) 0.725 (2010) (high) (62nd)
CurrencyCosta Rican colón (CRC)
Time zoneUTC−06:00 (UTC-6)
Drives on theright
Internet TLD.cr
Calling code+506

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:For the plant genus Costa Rica, see its synonym Sicyos.Costa Rica c-enaudio=En-us-Costa Rica.oggˌkoʊstə_ˈriːkə, officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( or , -esreˈpuβlika ðe ˈkosta ˈrikapron) is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Development Index, ranked 62nd in the world in 2010, and is cited by the UNDP as one of the countries that have attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels. The country is ranked third in the world, and first among the Americas, in terms of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.

In 2007, the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon-neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the "greenest" country in the world.


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