Small in size, yet abundant in wildlife
Costa Rica is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world. Covering an area of only 19,700 square miles (51,100 square kilometers), Costa Rica is home to more than half a million species—nearly six percent of the world’s flora and fauna. Hundreds of these species are endemic to Costa Rica, meaning they exist nowhere else on Earth.

The country’s biodiversity is attributed to its geographic location—which has served as a migratory land bridge between two continents for countless animal and plant species—its variety of ecosystems, and its commitment to preserving and protecting the environment.

Environmental conservation efforts
With 12 ecological zones and over 100 national parks, reserves, refuges, and protected areas, Costa Rica is a bona fide paradise where nature reigns. The country is dedicated to protecting and preserving its eco-diversity and is on its way to becoming the first carbon-neutral nation in the world.

The nation protects nearly 25 percent of its land under an extraordinary national park system, pays farmers to restore and preserve forests, and generates 99.2 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. In 2021, Costa Rica was awarded the Earth Shot Prize by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for its pioneering program that uses fossil fuel sales taxes to pay for the protection and restoration of forests. This program has helped restore most forests lost in the past century, making Costa Rica the only tropical country in the world to have reversed deforestation.

Volcanic formations
Costa Rica sits on what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire and its dramatic landscape contains at least 200 volcanic formations, of which three are currently active volcanoes: Poás, Turrialba, and Rincon de La Vieja.

Stable democracy
Costa Rica has one of the most stable democracies in Latin America. It abolished the military in 1948 and diverted these funds to invest in its education, health system, and efforts to protect the environment. Additionally, in 1983, Costa Rica issued a policy of "permanent" and "unarmed" neutrality.

A diversified economy
Costa Rica is considered a middle-income country with steady economic growth over the past 25 years. This growth resulted from a strategy based on promoting innovation to diversify export products and services, openness to foreign investment, and gradual trade liberalization.

Since the mid-1980s, the country’s economy evolved from depending solely on agriculture to a more diverse one based on tourism, agri-food products, electronic components and medical devices exports, and manufacturing and information technology services, among others. The combination of political stability, social progress, and steady economic growth has resulted in one of the lowest poverty rates in Latin America and the Caribbean.