Costa Rica is a small but spectacular country in Central America. About half the size of Virginia, it fits between Nicaragua and Panama, and has coastlines on both the Pacific and the Caribbean.
![]() Nobel Prize Winner In 1987 Oscar Arias Sanchez, then president of Costa Rica, won the Nobel Peace Prize, honored for his peace-making efforts in Central America. |
| (more about President Sanchez) |
![]() Costa Rican side trips Volcano visit: Climb, photograph, or eat while you watch lava stream by you. Canopy tours: See the rain forest where the action is--at tree-top level. |
Many things set Costa Rica apart from its neighbors. It became a democratic republic in 1848 and (except for a 12-year 19th century dictatorship) has remained democratic and relatively stable ever since. It has no standing army; it has a literacy rate approaching that of the United States.
Costa Rica is blessed with an astonishing sampling of biological and ecological diversity. Without spending a lot of travel time within the country, a tourist can experience
With a rare recognition of its natural treasures, Costa Rica has set aside better than a quarter of its land area as national parks and ecological buffer zones. The country has become a mecca for eco-tourism, from slow-paced bird-watching to white water rafting. Tourism has become Costa Rica's primary producer of income.
Costa Rica appeals not just to the active traveler, but to the retiree. The government actively recruits those whose working years are behind them. Retirees find they can live comfortably--even luxuriously--for far less than they would spend in the U.S.
Traveler or retiree--both find lots to like about Costa Rica.
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff