About Costa Rica

Brief History of Costa Rica
•Ruled by Spain 1563-1821
•Part of Central American Federation until 1838
•Peaceful democracy from 1899 to present day

Government and Economy

• Official Name: Republic of Costa Rica
• Form of Government: Democratic Republic
• Military disbanded in 1949
• Heavy government involvement in economy
• GDP split between Agriculture (6.2%), Service & Tourism (72.4%), and Industry/Manufacturing (21.5%)

People and Society

• 4.7 million total population
• Spanish is the official language
• 76% Roman Catholic Church
• 96.3% total population literacy rate
• Popular regional immigration destination; 10% of population are immigrants
• 25% of the population live below the poverty line

All information from the World Factbook at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html
Images taken on Reconnaissance trip in August 2013