Costa Rica History

Costa Rica has a surface area of 51,100 square kilometers and borders the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, with a total of 1290km of coastline.  Costa Rica is comprised of several islands, protects 23% of its national lands through the Protected Areas System, and possesses the greatest density of species in the world.

The capital city, San Jose de Costa Rica, is located in the San Jose province.  Because Costa Rica is located between nine to ten degrees north of the Equator, the climate is tropical year round.  Costa Rica's seasons are defined by how much it rains during a particular period and not to the four seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. The year can be split into two periods, the dry season known to the residents as summer, and the rainy season, known locally as winter. The "summer" or dry season goes from December to April, and "winter" or rainy season goes from May to November.

The Republic of Costa Rica obtained independence from Spain on September 15th, 1821. Costa Rica emerged as a society consisting mainly of campesinos (farmers) who had the task of building the country that, contrary to what happened in many other countries in Latin America, has a composition mostly middle class (70%) without the class division which favored the formation of it´s one hundred year old democracy (from 1889).  The democracy is one of the oldest in America, that was strengthened more in 1948 with the abolition of the army.    
 
The government is elected the first Sunday of Febuary every 4 years by it´s citizens older than 18.
 
It´s political system is formed by the executive branch (president of the republic and his ministers), the legislative branch (57 representatives in the legislative assembly) and the judicial branch (supreme court and the judicial justice and organization of investigation).
 
Education and health:
This atmosphere of social peace and politics strengthened through history for a country that decided to exchange arms for education.  Costa Rica has had a free and obligatory primary school education since 1869.  This explains why the country has the highest literacy rate in America (97%).  This is an element that has converted into an attraction for investors to the country that has positioned Costa Rica as fertile ground for the establishment of  service centers and the localization of companies in different fields.

 Since 1948, the construction of a benefit state whose orientation has permitted the consolidation of the base of a country that today proudly shows that it´s levels of health are found  to be among the standards of developed countries thanks to the universalization of health services that has permitted the life expectancy of the Costa Rican population to be 77.49 for males and 79.52 for females.  This is comparable or superior to 6 of the 8 world powers.  Only Japan and Canada have dedicated more to preventative medicine in addition to curative medicine along with the establishment of social security since 1940.

Fresh water storage: Anywhere you travel in Costa Rica (95% of the territory) you will see a blue cement sign, “A y A”.  That A y A means Acueductos y Alcantarillados (Aqueducts and Drainage) and guarantees that this institution founded in 1961 stores chlorinated and filtered water.  It is controled by the national government.

"Pura Vida" is the most recognizable phrase attached to Costa Ricans and it reflects the Costa Rican way of life. Often, people walking down the streets, or buying food at shops say hello by saying "Pura Vida" which means pure life, or good life. It can be phrased as a question or as an acknowledgement of one's presence. A recommended response to "How are you?" would be "Pura Vida".