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Compare Costa Rica (2003) - Southern Ocean (2008)
Compare Costa Rica (2003) z Southern Ocean (2008)
| Costa Rica (2003) | Southern Ocean (2008) | |
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| Administrative divisions | 7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose | - |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 30.1% (male 600,812; female 573,375)
15-64 years: 64.4% (male 1,269,667; female 1,241,097) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 98,156; female 112,985) (2003 est.) |
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| Agriculture - products | coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber | - |
| Airports | 151 (2002) | - |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 30
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 8 (2002) |
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| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 121
914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 93 (2002) |
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| Area | total: 51,100 sq km
land: 50,660 sq km water: 440 sq km note: includes Isla del Coco |
total: 20.327 million sq km
note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than West Virginia | slightly more than twice the size of 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 expanded its economy to include strong technology and tourism sectors. The standard of living is relatively high. Land ownership is widespread. | A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government. |
| Birth rate | 19.4 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
| Budget | revenues: $1.91 billion
expenditures: $2.35 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
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| Capital | San Jose | - |
| Climate | tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands | sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter |
| Coastline | 1,290 km | 17,968 km |
| Constitution | 7 November 1949 | - |
| 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 |
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| Currency | Costa Rican colon (CRC) | - |
| Death rate | 4.31 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
| Debt - external | $4.8 billion (2002 est.) | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador John J. DANILOVICH
embassy: Calle 120 Avenida O, Pavas, San Jose mailing address: APO AA 34020 telephone: [506] 220-3939 FAX: [506] 220-2305 |
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| 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, Chicago, Denver, Durham (North Carolina), Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, St. Paul, and Tampa consulate(s): Austin |
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| Disputes - international | legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on border with Nicaragua | Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west |
| 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. At the same time, distribution of income remains severely unequal. 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, with the need to modernize the state-owned electricity and telecommunications sector, and with the problem of bringing down inflation. | Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer, 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000. |
| Electricity - consumption | 6.109 billion kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - exports | 379 million kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 128 million kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - production | 6.839 billion kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 1.5%
hydro: 81.9% nuclear: 0% other: 16.6% (2001) |
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| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Chirripo 3,810 m |
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench
highest point: sea level 0 m |
| Environment - current issues | deforestation and land use change, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching and agriculture; soil erosion; coastal marine pollution; fisheries protection; solid waste management; air pollution | increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries |
| 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 |
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)
note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence), which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north |
| Ethnic groups | white (including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1% | - |
| Exchange rates | Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 359.82 (2002), 328.87 (2001), 308.19 (2000), 285.69 (1999), 257.23 (1998) | - |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since NA May 2002); Second Vice President Luis FISHMAN (since NA May 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since NA May 2002); Second Vice President Luis FISHMAN (since NA May 2002); note - the 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 3 February 2002; run-off election held 7 April 2002 (next to be held NA February 2006) election results: Abel PACHECO elected president; percent of vote - Abel PACHECO (PUSC) 58%; Rolando ARAYA (PLN) 42% |
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| Exports | NA (2001) | - |
| Exports - commodities | coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic components, medical equipment | - |
| Exports - partners | US 31.5%, Netherlands 8.9%, UK 4.5% (2002) | - |
| Fiscal 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 elliptical disk on the hoist side of the red band; above the coat of arms a light blue ribbon contains the words, AMERICA CENTRAL, and just below it near the top of the coat of arms is a white ribbon with the words, REPUBLICA COSTA RICA | - |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $32 billion (2002 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9%
industry: 30% services: 61% (2002 est.) |
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| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2002 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 2.8% (2002 est.) | - |
| Geographic coordinates | 10 00 N, 84 00 W | 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude |
| Geography - note | four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65 | the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds |
| Highways | total: 35,892 km
paved: 7,896 km unpaved: 27,996 km (2000) |
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| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.7%
highest 10%: 34.6% (2001) |
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| 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 | - |
| Imports | NA (2001) | - |
| Imports - commodities | raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum | - |
| Imports - partners | US 36.7%, Japan 4.4%, Mexico 4.2% (2002) | - |
| Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 2.9% (2002 est.) | - |
| Industries | microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products | - |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 10.56 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.49 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
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| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 9.1% (2002 est.) | - |
| International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | - |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (of which only one is legal) (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 1,260 sq km (1998 est.) | - |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly) | - |
| Labor force | 1.9 million (1999) | - |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.) | - |
| Land boundaries | total: 639 km
border countries: Nicaragua 309 km, Panama 330 km |
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| Land use | arable land: 4.41%
permanent crops: 5.48% other: 90.11% (1998 est.) |
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| Languages | Spanish (official), English | - |
| Legal system | based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | - |
| 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 3 February 2002 (next to be held 3 February 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PUSC 19, PLN 17, PAC 14, PML 6, PRC 1 |
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| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.43 years
male: 73.87 years female: 79.11 years (2003 est.) |
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| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96% male: 95.9% female: 96.1% (2003 est.) |
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| Location | Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama | body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica |
| Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Antarctic Region |
| Maritime claims | continental shelf: 200 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
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| Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,716 GRT/ DWT
ships by type: passenger 1 (2002 est.) |
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| Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; Air Section, Ministry of Public Forces (Fuerza Publica) | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $69 million (FY99) | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% (FY99) | - |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 1,080,254 (2003 est.) | - |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 722,043 (2003 est.) | - |
| Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2003 est.) | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 41,453 (2003 est.) | - |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | - |
| Nationality | noun: Costa Rican(s)
adjective: Costa Rican |
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| Natural hazards | occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides; active volcanoes | huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 m thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue |
| Natural resources | hydropower | probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fish |
| Net migration rate | 0.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
| Pipelines | refined products 421 km (2003) | - |
| Political parties and leaders | Agricultural Labor Action or PALA [Carlos Alberto SOLIS Blanco]; Citizen Action Party or PAC [Otton SOLIS]; 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 - until the 3 February 2002 election in which the PAC captured a significant percentage, forcing a run-off in April 2002 |
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| 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] | - |
| Population | 3,896,092 (July 2003 est.) | - |
| Population below poverty line | 20.6% (1999 est.) | - |
| Population growth rate | 1.56% (2003 est.) | - |
| Ports and harbors | Caldera, Golfito, Moin, Puerto Limon, Puerto Quepos, Puntarenas | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 50, FM 43, shortwave 19 (1998) | - |
| Railways | total: 950 km
narrow gauge: 950 km 1.067-m gauge (260 km electrified) (2002) |
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| Religions | Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2% | - |
| 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 (2003 est.) |
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| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | - |
| 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) |
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| Telephones - main lines in use | 450,000 (1998)
note: 584,000 installed in 1997, but only about 450,000 were in use in 1998 |
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| Telephones - mobile cellular | 143,000 (2000) | - |
| Television broadcast stations | 6 (plus 11 repeaters) (1997) | - |
| Terrain | coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major volcanoes | the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 m over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 m (the global mean is 133 m); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million sq km in March to about 18.8 million sq km in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers |
| Total fertility rate | 2.38 children born/woman (2003 est.) | - |
| Transportation - note | - | Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal |
| Unemployment rate | 6.3% (2002 est.) | - |
| Waterways | 730 km (seasonally navigable) | - |
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