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Costa Rica Geography 2018

SOURCE: 2018 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES











Costa Rica Geography 2018
SOURCE: 2018 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES


Page last updated on February 28, 2018

Location:
Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama

Geographic coordinates:
10 00 N, 84 00 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 51,100 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
land: 51,060 sq km
[see also: Area - land country ranks ]
water: 40 sq km
[see also: Area - water country ranks ]
note: includes Isla del Coco
country comparison to the world: 130

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries:
total: 661 km
[see also: Land boundaries - total country ranks ]
border countries (2): Nicaragua 313 km, Panama 348 km

Coastline:
1,290 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - territorial sea country ranks ]
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone country ranks ]
continental shelf: 200 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - continental shelf country ranks ]

Climate:
tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands
More Climate Details

Terrain:
coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major active volcanoes

Elevation:
mean elevation: 746 m
[see also: Elevation - mean elevation country ranks ]
elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Cerro Chirripo 3,819 m

Natural resources:
hydropower

Land use:
agricultural land: 37.1% arable land 4.9%; permanent crops 6.7%; permanent pasture 25.5%
[see also: Land use - agricultural land country ranks ]
forest: 51.5%
[see also: Land use - forest country ranks ]
other: 11.4% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - other country ranks ]

Irrigated land:
1,015 sq km (2012)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]

Population - distribution:
roughly half of the nation's population resides in urban areas; the capital of San Jose is the largest city and home to approximately one-fifth of the population

Natural hazards:
occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides; active volcanoes
volcanism: Arenal (1,670 m), which erupted in 2010, is the most active volcano in Costa Rica; a 1968 eruption destroyed the town of Tabacon; Irazu (3,432 m), situated just east of San Jose, has the potential to spew ash over the capital city as it did between 1963 and 1965; other historically active volcanoes include Miravalles, Poas, Rincon de la Vieja, and Turrialba

Environment - current issues:
deforestation and land use change, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching and agriculture; soil erosion; coastal marine pollution; fisheries protection; solid waste management; air pollution

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:
four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65


NOTE: 1) The information regarding Costa Rica on this page is re-published from the 2018 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Costa Rica Geography 2018 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Costa Rica Geography 2018 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
  a) The assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
  b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order






This page was last modified 28-Feb-18
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