Costa Rica

  • Area: 51,100 square kilometres
  • Currency: Costa Rican colón made up of 100 céntimos USD $1 = 525,14 colones (at 15th July 2010)
  • Official language: Spanish; English is an obligatory second language in schools.
  • Population: 4.5 millions
  • Head of State or Government: Laura Chinchilla Miranda (President) 2009
  • GDP: $29.283,8 million
  • GDP per capita: $6494
  • GDP growth: 2.2%
  • Inflation: 14%

About Costa Rica

The Republic of Costa Rica in Central America is bordered by Panama to the south and Nicaragua to the north and the capital is San José. The main exports are electronic components, garments, bananas, medical devices, coffee and pineapples; tourism is also an important source of income. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector employs around 20 per cent of the working population and contributes 11 per cent of GDP.

Industry accounts for about one quarter of both employment and GDP, while the services sector employs just over half of the working population and contributes 58 per cent of GDP.