Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:

four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San
Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu,
erupted destructively in 1963-65

People
Costa Rica

Population:

4,195,914 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 27.2% (male 584,782/female 557,952)
15-64 years: 66.8% (male 1,416,456/female 1,384,692)
65 years and over: 6% (male 116,461/female 135,571) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 27.1 years
male: 26.7 years
female: 27.6 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.388% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

17.71 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

4.31 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

0.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 9.01 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 8.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 77.4 years
male: 74.79 years
female: 80.14 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.17 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.6% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

12,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

900 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Costa Rican(s)
adjective: Costa Rican

Ethnic groups:

white (including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%,
other 1%

Religions:

Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%,
other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2%

Languages:

Spanish (official), English

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.9%
male: 94.7%
female: 95.1% (2000 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 12 years
male: 12 years
female: 12 years (2005)

Education expenditures:

4.9% of GDP (2004)

Government
Costa Rica

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Costa Rica
co