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Compare Costa Rica (2001) - China (2004)
Compare Costa Rica (2001) z China (2004)
| Costa Rica (2001) | China (2004) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)
provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet) municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
| Age structure | 0-14 years:
31.38% (male 605,728; female 578,128) 15-64 years: 63.37% (male 1,209,084; female 1,181,754) 65 years and over: 5.25% (male 92,314; female 106,049) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 22.3% (male 153,401,051; female 135,812,993)
15-64 years: 70.3% (male 469,328,664; female 443,248,860) 65 years and over: 7.5% (male 46,308,923; female 50,747,133) (2004 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber | rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish |
| Airports | 152 (2000 est.) | 507 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
29 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.) |
total: 332
over 3,047 m: 49 2,438 to 3,047 m: 97 1,524 to 2,437 m: 129 914 to 1,523 m: 22 under 914 m: 35 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
123 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 95 (2000 est.) |
total: 175
over 3,047 m: 23 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 36 914 to 1,523 m: 40 under 914 m: 66 (2003 est.) |
| Area | total:
51,100 sq km land: 50,660 sq km water: 440 sq km note: includes Isla del Coco |
total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than West Virginia | slightly smaller than the US |
| Background | Costa Rica is a Central American success story: since the late 19th century, only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development. Although still a largely agricultural country, it has achieved a relatively high standard of living. Land ownership is widespread. Tourism is a rapidly expanding industry. | For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. |
| Birth rate | 20.27 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 12.98 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$1.95 billion expenditures: $2.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $265.8 billion
expenditures: $300.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003) |
| Capital | San Jose | Beijing |
| Climate | tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
| Coastline | 1,290 km | 14,500 km |
| Constitution | 7 November 1949 | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 |
| Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Costa Rica conventional short form: Costa Rica local long form: Republica de Costa Rica local short form: Costa Rica |
conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo abbreviation: PRC |
| Currency | Costa Rican colon (CRC) | yuan (CNY)
note:: also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB) |
| Death rate | 4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.92 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external | $4.2 billion (2000 est.) | $197.8 billion (2003 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Thomas J. DODD embassy: Calle 120 Avenida O, Pavas, San Jose mailing address: APO AA 34020 telephone: [506] 220-3939 FAX: [506] 220-2305 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3831 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Jaime DAREMBLUM Rosenstein chancery: 2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-2945 FAX: [1] (202) 265-4795 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, St. Paul, and Tampa consulate(s): Austin |
chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
| Disputes - international | legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on border with Nicaragua | involved in complex dispute with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; most of the rugged, militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but the two sides are committed to begin resolution with discussions on the least disputed Middle Sector; Kashmir remains the world's largest and highly militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas), but recent discussion and confidence-building measures among parties are beginning to defuse tensions, India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding lands to China in a 1964 boundary agreement; China and Taiwan continue to assert their claims to the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) with increased media coverage and protest actions; certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers are in an uncontested dispute with North Korea and a section of boundary around Mount Paektu is indefinite - China has been attempting to manage illegal migration of North Koreans into northern China; China and Russia in 2004 resolved their last border dispute over islands in the Amur and Argun Rivers, but details on demarcation have not yet been worked-out; boundary delimitation agreements signed in 2002 with Tajikistan cedes 1,000 sq km of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China's relinquishing claims to 28,000 sq km, but demarcation has not commenced; agreements with Vietnam demarcating maritime boundaries and fisheries cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin were ratified in June, and demarcation of the land boundary continues; China occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; in response to groups in Burma and Thailand expressing concern over China's plans to construct 13 hydroelectric dams on the Nu River in Yunnan Province (Salween River in Burma), Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suspended the project to conduct an environmental impact assessment, a smaller scale version of only 4 dams is now scheduled to move forward |
| Economic aid - recipient | - | NA |
| Economy - overview | Costa Rica's basically stable economy depends on tourism, agriculture, and electronics exports. Poverty has been substantially reduced over the past 15 years, and a strong social safety net has been put into place. Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's political stability and high education levels, and tourism continues to bring in foreign exchange. However, traditional export sectors have not kept pace. Low coffee prices and an overabundance of bananas have hurt the agricultural sector. The government continues to grapple with its large deficit and massive internal debt and with the need to modernize the state-owned electricity and telecommunications sector. | In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish, inefficient, Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprises in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2003 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still poor. Agriculture and industry have posted major gains especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong, opposite Taiwan, and in Shanghai, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. The leadership, however, often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid system - the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (growing income disparities and rising unemployment). China thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) sustain adequate jobs growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises, many of which had been shielded from competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time, low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Beijing says it will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure - such as water supply and power grids - and poverty relief and through rural tax reform. Accession to the World Trade Organization helps strengthen its ability to maintain strong growth rates but at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer internet use. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable economic growth. Growing shortages of electric power and raw materials will hold back the expansion of industrial output in 2004. |
| Electricity - consumption | 5.303 billion kWh (1999) | 1.312 trillion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 165 million kWh (1999) | 10.3 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 69 million kWh (1999) | 1.8 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 5.805 billion kWh (1999) | 1.42 trillion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
2.41% hydro: 83.32% nuclear: 0% other: 14.27% (1999) |
- |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Cerro Chirripo 3,810 m |
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
| Environment - current issues | deforestation and land use change, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching and agriculture; soil erosion; water pollution (rivers); coastal marine pollution; wetlands degradation; fisheries protection; solid waste management; air pollution | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
| Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | white (including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1% | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
| Exchange rates | Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 318.95 (2001), 308.19 (2000), 285.68 (1999), 257.23 (1998), 232.60 (1997), 207.69 (1996) | yuan per US dollar - 8.277 (2003), 8.277 (2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999) |
| Executive branch | chief of state:
President Miguel Angel RODRIGUEZ (since 8 May 1998); First Vice President Astrid FISCHEL Volio (since 8 May 1998), Second Vice President Elizabeth ODIO Benito (since 8 May 1998); note - president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Miguel Angel RODRIGUEZ (since 8 May 1998); First Vice President Astrid FISCHEL Volio (since 8 May 1998), Second Vice President Elizabeth ODIO Benito (since 8 May 1998); note - president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president elections: president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 1 February 1998 (next to be held 3 February 2002) election results: Miguel Angel RODRIGUEZ elected president; percent of vote - Miguel Angel RODRIGUEZ (PUSC) 46.6%, Jose Miguel CORRALES (PLN) 44.6% |
chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers HUANG Ju (since 17 March 2003), WU Yi (17 March 2003), ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: HU Jintao elected president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (4 delegates voted against him, 4 abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); 2 seats were vacant |
| Exports | $6.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 151,200 bbl/day (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic components, medical equipment | machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods, mineral fuels |
| Exports - partners | US 54.1%, EU 21.3%, Central America 8.6% (1999) | US 21.1%, Hong Kong 17.4%, Japan 13.6%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4% (2003) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| Flag description | five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white disk on the hoist side of the red band | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $25 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6.449 trillion (2003 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
12.5% industry: 30.7% services: 56.8% (1999) |
agriculture: 14.8%
industry and construction: 52.9% services: 32.3% (2003) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2003 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2000 est.) | 9.1% (official data) (2003 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 10 00 N, 84 00 W | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Geography - note | - | world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak; |
| Heliports | - | 15 (2003 est.) |
| Highways | total:
37,273 km paved: 7,827 km unpaved: 29,446 km (1998 est.) |
total: 1,402,698 km
paved: 314,204 km (with at least 16,314 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,088,494 km (2000) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.3% highest 10%: 34.7% (1996) |
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) |
| Illicit drugs | transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America; illicit production of cannabis on small, scattered plots; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, particularly crack cocaine; those who previously only trafficked are now becoming users | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine |
| Imports | $5.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 1.207 million bbl/day (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals |
| Imports - partners | US 56.4%, EU 9%, Mexico 5.4%, Japan 4.7%, (1999) | Japan 18%, Taiwan 11.9%, South Korea 10.4%, US 8.2%, Germany 5.9% (2003) |
| Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 4.3% (2000) | 30.4% (2003 est.) |
| Industries | microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products | iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications |
| Infant mortality rate | 11.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 25.28 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 29.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 11% (2000 est.) | 1.2% (2003 est.) |
| International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | AfDB, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (of which only one is legal) (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 1,200 sq km (1993 est.) | 525,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly) | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) |
| Labor force | 1.9 million (1999) | 778.1 million (2003 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.) | agriculture 50%, industry 22%, services 28% (2001 est.) |
| Land boundaries | total:
639 km border countries: Nicaragua 309 km, Panama 330 km |
total: 22,117 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km |
| Land use | arable land:
6% permanent crops: 5% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 31% other: 12% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 15.4%
permanent crops: 1.25% other: 83.36% (2001) |
| Languages | Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) |
| Legal system | based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law |
| Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 1 February 1998 (next to be held 3 February 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - PUSC 41%, PLN 35%, minority parties 24%; seats by party - PUSC 27, PLN 23, minority parties 7 |
unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,985 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held December 2002-February 2003 (next to be held late 2007-February 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
76.02 years male: 73.49 years female: 78.68 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 71.96 years
male: 70.4 years female: 73.72 years (2004 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 94.8% male: 94.7% female: 95% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.9% male: 95.1% female: 86.5% (2002) |
| Location | Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
| Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Asia |
| Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,716 GRT/NA DWT ships by type: passenger 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 1,850 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,724,653 GRT/27,749,784 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 355, cargo 822, chemical tanker 28, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 165, liquefied gas 28, multi-functional large load carrier 8, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 46, petroleum tanker 272, rail car carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 27, roll on/roll off 25, short-sea/passenger 39, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 4 foreign-owned: Cambodia 1, Greece 2, Hong Kong 12, Japan 1, South Korea 2, Liberia 1, Malaysia 1, Panama 1, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1 registered in other countries: 790 (2004 est.) |
| Military branches | Coast Guard, Air Section, Ministry of Public Security Force (Fuerza Publica)
note: Costa Rica has no military, only domestic police forces, including the Coast Guard and Air Section |
People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $69 million (FY99) | $60 billion (2003 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% (FY99) | 3.5-5.0% (FY03 est.) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,035,090 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 379,524,688 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
692,973 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 208,143,352 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
39,411 (2001 est.) |
males: 12,494,201 (2004 est.) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
| Nationality | noun:
Costa Rican(s) adjective: Costa Rican |
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese |
| Natural hazards | occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides; active volcanoes | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence |
| Natural resources | hydropower | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
| Net migration rate | 0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Pipelines | petroleum products 176 km | gas 15,890 km; oil 14,478 km; refined products 3,280 km (2004) |
| Political parties and leaders | Agricultural Labor Action or PALA [Carlos Alberto SOLIS Blanco]; Costa Rican Renovation Party or PRC [Justo OROZCO]; Democratic Force Party or PFD [Jose M. NUNEZ]; Libertarian Movement Party or PML [Otto GUEVARA Guth]; National Christian Alliance Party or ANC [Alejandro MADRIGAL]; National Independent Party or PNI [Jorge GONZALEZ Marten]; National Integration Party or PIN [Walter MUNOZ Cespedes]; National Liberation Party or PLN [Sonia PICADO]; Social Christian Unity Party or PUSC [Luis Manuel CHACON]
note: mainly a two-party system - PUSC and PLN; numerous small parties share less than 25% of population's support |
Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | Authentic Confederation of Democratic Workers or CATD (Communist Party affiliate); Chamber of Coffee Growers; Confederated Union of Workers or CUT (Communist Party affiliate); Costa Rican Confederation of Democratic Workers or CCTD (Liberation Party affiliate); Federation of Public Service Workers or FTSP; National Association for Economic Development or ANFE; National Association of Educators or ANDE; Rerum Novarum or CTRN (PLN affiliate) [Gilbert Brown] | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong spiritual movement and the China Democracy Party as subversive groups |
| Population | 3,773,057 (July 2001 est.) | 1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 20.6% (1999 est.) | 10% (2001 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.65% (2001 est.) | 0.57% (2004 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Caldera, Golfito, Moin, Puerto Limon, Puerto Quepos, Puntarenas | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001) |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 50, FM 43, shortwave 19 (1998) | AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998) |
| Radios | 980,000 (1997) | - |
| Railways | total:
950 km narrow gauge: 950 km 1.067-m gauge (260 km electrified) (2000) |
total: 70,058 km
standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (18,668 km electrified) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 1.000-m and 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines dual gauge: 22,640 km (not included in total) (2003) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, other Protestant 0.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other 4.8%, none 3.2% | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment:
very good domestic telephone service domestic: point-to-point and point-to-multi-point microwave, fiber-optic, and coaxial cable link rural areas; Internet service is available international: connected to Central American Microwave System; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); two submarine cables (1999) |
general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: country code - 86; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 450,000 (1998)
note: 584,000 installed in 1997, but only about 450,000 were in use 1998 |
263 million (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 143,000 (2000) | 269 million (2003) |
| Television broadcast stations | 6 (plus 11 repeaters) (1997) | 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) |
| Terrain | coastal plains separated by rugged mountains | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
| Total fertility rate | 2.47 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.69 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 5.2% (2000 est.) | 10.1% urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2003 est.) |
| Waterways | 730 km (seasonally navigable) | 121,557 km (2002) |
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