[{"command":"settings","settings":{"basePath":"\/","pathPrefix":"","setHasJsCookie":0,"ajaxPageState":{"theme":"travelwhiz_bootstrap","theme_token":"390fiNqca9-keaanY5saEqZv-WfpL9h7918x71WTpco"},"bootstrap":{"anchorsFix":1,"anchorsSmoothScrolling":1,"formHasError":1,"popoverEnabled":1,"popoverOptions":{"animation":1,"html":0,"placement":"right","selector":"","trigger":"click","triggerAutoclose":1,"title":"","content":"","delay":0,"container":"body"},"tooltipEnabled":1,"tooltipOptions":{"animation":1,"html":0,"placement":"auto left","selector":"","trigger":"hover focus","delay":0,"container":"body"}}},"merge":true},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":"#body-64-4274-0","data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022body-64-4274-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECosta Rica is a small Central American country. This country\u0027s history, climates, flora, and fauna are as diverse as its landscapes, which range from rainforests to dry tropical and temperate forests, volcanoes to Caribbean and Pacific beaches, high mountains, and marshy lowlands. Costa Rica is an incredibly stable and secure country in comparison to the turbulent area it is located in, and it is one of the world\u0027s top nature and ecotourism destinations. Because of its relative wealth, it can be somewhat more costly than its northern neighbors.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of Costa Rica\u0027s topography and historical development, the majority of economic growth has been concentrated in the Central Valley, which is home to four cities: San Jos\u00e9 (capital), Alajuela, Cartago, and Heredia. Provincial capitals (Liberia, Puntarenas, and Lim\u00f3n) and other towns in strategic locations are important regionally, especially for tourism.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECosta Rica has been a popular nature travel destination since the late 1980s, and its main competitive advantage is its well-established system of national parks and protected areas, which cover about 23.4 percent of the country\u0027s land area, the largest in the world as a percentage of the country\u0027s territory, and are home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, despite the country covering just 0.03 percent of the world\u0027s land area. The nation also has a plethora of world-renowned beaches in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, all within short distances of each other, as well as many active volcanoes that can be visited safely.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECosta Rica has tended to escape the region\u0027s political upheaval and crime. After winning the 44-day civil war, the country\u0027s last major political violence, President Figueres legally abolished the Costa Rican army permanently in 1948. Costa Rica is Latin America\u0027s longest democracy (since the 1973 Chilean coup d\u0027etat) and one of only a few presidential republics in the world to have lasted more than five decades. In the 2018 Human Development Index, Costa Rica ranked fifth among 21 Latin American countries (68th overall). In this metric, it often outperforms countries with higher GDP per capita, and although it still suffers from severe income and wealth inequality, it suffers from it to a lesser degree than many other Latin American countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index, Costa Rica is ranked third in the world and first in the Americas. In 2009 and 2012, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) named Costa Rica the happiest country in the world. Costa Rica was named the world\u0027s \u0022greenest\u0022 country by the NEF.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the 19th century, Lim\u00f3n Province in Costa Rica has been home to a strong Jamaican diaspora community, and an English-based creole similar to Jamaican patois is still spoken there. So, despite Costa Rica being a Spanish-speaking country, don\u0027t be shocked to meet locals with English names (such as football [soccer] players Joel Campbell and Kendall Watson). Nicaraguan immigration to Costa Rica is a more recent phenomenon that occurs for both political and economic reasons and sometimes creates tensions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECosta Rica translates to \u0022Rich Coast\u0022 in Spanish.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","settings":null}]