# Presentation: 245955

## Costa Rica

**“****No Artificial Ingredients”**

**Presented by Giselle Sandí**
**July 17th, 2008**

## Some History

- In Pre-Columbian times the Native Americans in what is now Costa Rica were part of the Intermediate Area, between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions.
-  In 1502, on his fourth and last voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus made the first European landfall in the area. The native peoples were conquered by Spain in the 16th century. Costa Rica was then the southern-most province in the Spanish territory of New Spain.
- In 1821, Costa Rica became one of several Central American provinces that jointly declared their independence from Spain (September 15, 1821).

- Very small country

## General Information

-    Location: Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the
-     	      North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama (10 00 N, 84 00 W)
-    Capital: San José
-    Total area: 51,100 sq k or 19,725 sq mi  (**slightly smaller than West Virginia**)
-    Climate: tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April);
- 	    rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands
-    Terrain: coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over **100 volcanic **
**	****   ****cones**, of which several are major volcanoes
-    International agreements:
*	**- **party to*: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 	  Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
-  	  Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer 	 	  Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
- 	- *signed, but not ratified*: Marine Life Conservation
-    Costa Rica protects over 25% of its national territory within national parks.
-      It also possesses the greatest density of species in the world.
-      _[http://www.inbio.ac.cr/es/biod/estrategia/estudio.html](http://www.inbio.ac.cr/es/biod/estrategia/estudio.html)_

## General Information

- Population: 4,075,261 (July 2006 est.)
- Ethnic groups: White (including mestizo) 94%, African American 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1%
- Most common languages: Spanish (official), English
- Costa Ricans are known as “ticos”
- Literacy (definition: age 15 and over can read and write)
- 	- total population: 96%
- 	- male: 95.9%
- 	- female: 96.1%
- Government composed of:
- 	- Executive branch: chief of state (head of government), first vice president, and second vice president
- 	- Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
- 	- Judicial branch: Supreme Court (22 judges are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly)

## Map

**Motto: Vivan siempre el trabajo y la paz **
**	****(Long live work and peace)**

- I was born around here!

## Our Symbols: The Flag

- The Fist Lady, Pacifica Fernandez Oreamuno, designed the flag of Costa Rica in 1848. It was designed after the ideals of the French Revolution - freedom, equality, and brotherhood - and the colors of the French National Flag.
- Each color represents important aspects of Costa Rica:
**Blue** means the sky, opportunities at reach, intellectual thinking, perseverance to accomplish a goal, infinite, eternity, and ideals of the religious and spiritual desires.
- White means clear thinking, happiness, wisdom, power and beauty of the sky, the driving force of initiatives to search for new endeavors, and the peace of Costa Rica.
**Red** means the warmth of Costa Rican people, their love to live, their blood shed for freedom, and their generous attitude.

## Our Symbols: Coat of Arms

- The two branches of myrtle closing the coat of arms represent the peace of Costa Rica.
- The seven stars above the volcanoes represent the seven provinces of Costa Rica
- The volcanoes represent the three Costa Rica's mountain range systems.
- The two oceans represent the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
- The merchant ships sailing on each ocean represent the cultural and commercial exchange between Costa Rica and the rest of the world.
- The rising sun represents the prosperity of Costa Rica.
- The small circles on both sides of the coat represent the coffee beans, "Golden Beans”.

## Diverse Flora and Fauna

## San José

## Canoeing in Tortuguero:North Caribbean 

## Poás Volcano: The largest active crater in the world

## South Pacific: Turtles at work

## Central Pacific: Just like Chicago in February

## Water rafting in the Central Valley Area

## Corcovado: My favorite (but rough) place in the South Pacific

## A paradise in the South Caribbean

## Just as Frank did..here is our National Anthem

- English verses by
- Mary Elizabeth and Diccon Shaw
- 1
- Noble country, our lives
- Are revealed in your flying flag;
- For in peace, white and pure, we live tranquil
- Beneath the clear limpid blue of your sky.
- 2
- And their faces are ruddy with hard work
- In the fields beneath the life giving sun.
- Though your sons are but farm workers, their labors eternal
- Esteem, renown, and honor have won.
- 3
- Hail, oh land of our birth!
- Hail, oh gracious land we love!
- 4
- If an enemy seeking to slander you or
- Harms your name, then we will abandon our farms
- And arise with fervor to take up our arms.
- 5
- Oh, sweet country, our refuge and shelter;
- How fertile your life giving soil!
- May your people contended and peaceful
- Unmolested continue their hard work.