Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a bustling emergent economy in Latin America with a life expectancy of 78.2, literacy rate of 96.3 and number 21 in world economic ranking. It is known for its model sustainability laws and practices, and contains 0.5% of the entire world’s biodiversity. Renowned for its natural beauty, this tropical paradise is covered in lush, green vegetation, which reaches both of its golden coastlines on the Pacific and Caribbean.
A tropical paradise within reasonable proximity to its main markets of inbound travelers – what could be better? Costa Rica is connected to several hub cities in North America and Europe, featuring many daily incoming and outgoing flights by airlines such as Delta, United and American Airlines. Operating in Central Time, visitors flying to Costa Rica from the Americas experience little to no jetlag – location, location, location!
Costa Rica is not an island. It is a mystifyingly beautiful tropical country located right on the belly button of American continent, the Pacific Ocean to its west, and to its east the Caribbean Sea. Its diverse landscape consisting mainly of plateaus, valleys, mountains, and volcanoes, as well as its small land mass, makes it an ideal destination for getting around when on holiday. The close proximity between regional attractions results in a magical land of limitless adventure.
Home to a wide selection of nature tours amidst the year-round pleasant weather, Costa Rica has two seasons – the Green Season in which there is more rainfall, and the Gold Season in which there is an abundance of sunshine and good vibes.
Costa Rica is ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world. It comes as no surprise that it has some of the world’s highest recorded rates of longevity. Costa Ricans are the unique result of an exquisite combination of differing rich cultures including Aztecs, Mayans, Europeans, and Africans. Enter, the warm and hardworking proverbial Tico! The majority of the population of around 5 million people, reside in the Central Valley, where San Jose, the metropolitan capital of Costa Rica is located.
The Central Valley has an average temperature of about 68-77F (20-25C), but the climate in the rest of the country differs according to elevation and geographical positioning. High up on the mountains it’s colder, the Pacific coast is known to be dry and hot, and the Caribbean coast hot and humid due to year-round rainfall. Thanks to the rainfall, stable temperature and diverse landscape, Costa Rica, in spite of only representing only 0.03% of the world’s land mass, is home to 5% of the world’s biodiversity. About 51% of the country is rainforest and over 30% of its national territory is marked for conservation – there are 27 national parks, 58 wildlife sanctuaries, 32 protected zones, and 19 forest reserves.
Green, peaceful and Pura Vida, Costa Rica is globally renowned for its political stability as a conflict-free democratic nation in Central America. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, and has remained demilitarized ever since as a commitment to the ultimate challenge of world peace. This has given way to economic stability and development, and Costa Rica is now the optimum land of foreign investment. From Microsoft, Amazon and Intel to P&G and Boston Scientific, as well as some of the world’s top hotel chains such as Four Seasons, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and Intercontinental, they’ve all set up shop in Costa Rica. Little-known fact: Costa Rica’s top exports revolve around specialized electronics, rather than coffee beans and bananas!
