The country's capital is San Jos . Several mountain ranges extend nearly the entire length of the country. These include the Cordillera de Talamanca, Cordillera Central, and Cordillera de Guanacaste. A central plateau, the Meseta Central, is located between the ranges and contains the bulk of the population.
Wide lowlands extend along the almost unindented Caribbean coast.
The lowlands along the Pacific are narrower. Here the coast is broken by a number of bays, the chief ones being the landlocked Gulf of Nicoya, the deep, open Gulf of Dulce, and Coronada Bay. The principal stream of Costa Rica is the San Juan River, which forms part of the country's boundary with Nicaragua to the north. The climate of Costa Rica ranges from tropical on the coastal plains to temperate in the interior highlands. Average annual temperatures range from 31.7 deg.