Portal:Costa Rica

Republic of Costa Rica
*República de Costa Rica* (Spanish)
Republic of Costa Rica República de Costa Rica (Spanish)
	Flag Coat of arms
	Anthem: "Himno Nacional de Costa Rica" (Spanish); "National Anthem of Costa Rica"
ISO 3166 code	CR

The Costa Rica Portal

Introduction

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, sharing a maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million0 in a land area of nearly 51,180 km² (19,760 sq mi); the capital and largest city is San José, home to around 350,000 residents and two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

Humans have been in Costa Rica since between 7,000 and 10,000 BC. Various indigenous peoples lived in the territory before it was colonized by Spain in the 16th century. Costa Rica was a peripheral colony of the Spanish Empire until independence in 1821 as part of the First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the Federal Republic of Central America in 1823, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. The country underwent gradual modernization under relatively stable authoritarian rule until the late 19th century, when it promulgated a liberal constitution and held the first free and fair national election in Central America.

Following a brief civil war in 1948, Costa Rica adopted its current constitution in 1949, which granted universal suffrage, provided various social, economic, and educational guarantees for all citizens, and permanently abolished the army, becoming one of the few sovereign nations without a standing military. Costa Rica is a presidential republic with a robust and stable democracy. About one-fourth of the national budget is spent on education—which has been free and compulsory since 1886—equal to about 6.2% of the country's GDP, compared to a global average of 3.8%; the economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. (Full article...)

The Costa Rica Quiz

Of the 500,000 species of life that Costa Rica is home to, how many are insects?

Hint

It's probably more than you think it is.

Answer

300,000 species are insects.^[1]

(or just refresh the page)

Selected article -

Indigenous territories in Costa Rica

Indigenous people of Costa Rica, or Native Costa Ricans, are the people who lived in what is now Costa Rica prior to European and African contact and the descendants of those peoples. About 114,000 Indigenous people live in the country, comprising 2.4% of the total population. Indigenous Costa Ricans strive to keep their cultural traditions and languages alive.

In 1977, the government passed the Indigenous Law, which created reserves. There are a total of 24 Indigenous territories located throughout Costa Rica. After only gaining the right to vote in 1994, they are still fighting for their rights, particularly regarding the government taking over their land and ignoring the articles which protect them. While Indigenous people have struggled for legal recognition of their rights, Costa Rica did sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the first Quakers in Costa Rica founded the city of Monteverde after fleeing from the United States?
... that the first Quakers in Costa Rica founded the city of Monteverde after fleeing from the United States?
... that Costa Rica's most famous bull killed two men and loved mangos?

More Did you know -

...that the Landmarks Foundation helps conserve sacred sites such as the stone spheres of Costa Rica and the moai of Easter Island?

Related portals

Selected image -

Image 1Mantled howler monkey, male (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 2The University of Costa Rica is the largest university in the country and one of the most recognizable across Central America. (from Costa Rica)
Image 3Chatham beach on Cocos Island. (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 4Gregorio José Ramírez was the most notable political chief of the province of Costa Rica, leading republican forces victorious in the Battle of Ochomogo. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 5Costa Rica map of Köppen climate classification (from Costa Rica)
Image 6The scarlet macaw is native to Costa Rica. (from Costa Rica)
Image 7Stone spheres created by the Diquis culture at the National Museum of Costa Rica. The sphere is the icon of the country's cultural identity. (from Costa Rica)
Image 8Costa Rican breakfast with gallo pinto (from Costa Rica)
Image 9The 1849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 10The Ujarrás historical site in the Orosí Valley, Cartago province. The church was built between 1686 and 1693. (from Costa Rica)
Image 11The mangrove hummingbird is endemic to Costa Rica and specializes in feeding from the tea mangrove plant with its uniquely shaped beak. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 12Yigüirro, Costa Rica's national bird (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 13Countries (in blue) which have signed Free Trade Agreements with Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 14Population pyramid of Costa Rica for 2024 (from Costa Rica)
Image 15Costa Rican Women in traditional dress (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 16Waterfall in the Tenorio Volcano National Park (from Costa Rica)
Image 17Gallo Pinto (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 18Costa Rica's tropical landscape (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 19Costa Rica supporters at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil (from Costa Rica)
Image 20The Rio Celeste (sky blue river) at Tenorio Volcano National Park in Costa Rica. (from Water resources management in Costa Rica)
Image 211849 national coat of arms was featured in the first postal stamp issued in 1862. (from Costa Rica)
Image 22An industrial park in Heredia (from Costa Rica)
Image 23Epiphytes near Santa Elena (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 24Las Carretas (oxcarts) are a national symbol. (from Costa Rica)
Image 25The Heliconius doris butterfly (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 26Typical settlement of the Diquis indigenous people before the arrival of Columbus. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 27An Intel microprocessor facility in Costa Rica that was, at one time, responsible for 20% of Costa Rican exports and 5% of the country's GDP (from Costa Rica)
Image 28Costa Rican school children (from Costa Rica)
Image 29Costa Rican kids. (from Culture of Costa Rica)
Image 30Hospital Calderón Guardia, named after the president who instituted universal health care across the country in 1941 (from Costa Rica)
Image 31Provinces 1 Alajuela, 2 Cartago, 3 Guanacaste, 4 Heredia, 5 Limón, 6 Puntarenas, 7 San José (from Costa Rica)
Image 32José María Castro Madriz formally declared Costa Rica as independent from the Federal Republic of Central America in 1848. (from History of Costa Rica)
Image 33A red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 34The scarlet macaw is native to Costa Rica. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 35Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, Cartago), during the 2007 pilgrimage (from Costa Rica)
Image 36Hospital CIMA in Escazú (from Costa Rica)
Image 37Eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 38The zebra longwing butterfly (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)
Image 39A coffee plantation in the Orosí Valley (from Costa Rica)
Image 40Development of life expectancy in Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 41Real GDP per capita development in Costa Rica (from Costa Rica)
Image 42Arenal Volcano National Park is one of the country's tourist attractions. (from Costa Rica)
Image 43The golden toad, an amphibian once endemic to Costa Rica, is now extinct. (from Wildlife of Costa Rica)

Costa Rica news

19 June 2026 –

Costa Rican police arrest a man in connection with an alleged threat against president Laura Fernández Delgado. The president is evacuated during a visit to northern Costa Rica after an explosion was reported nearby. (Reuters)

8 May 2026 – 2026 Costa Rican general election

Laura Fernández Delgado is sworn in as president of Costa Rica, succeeding Rodrigo Chaves Robles. (Reuters) (AP)

Costa Rica news from Wikinews...

WikiProjects

WikiProject Costa Rica

WikiProject Central America

History

Geography and environment

Icon information: mountain, rivers

Politics and government

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Costa Rica is home to four UNESCO world heritage sites.

Economy and society

Economics

Services

Culture

National Identity

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