 Location
Costa Rica is located in Central America, bordering both the
Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and
Panama. The precise geographical coordinates measure to 10.00
degrees north and 84.00 degrees west. The coastline of Costa Rica
stretches to approximately 1,290 km.
Area
Costa Rica has a total area of 51,100 sq km, which is slightly
smaller than West Virginia. While the land area stretches to 50,660
sq km, the area covered with water bodies amounts to 440 sq km,
which also includes Isla Del Coco. Costa Rica's land boundary
stretches to a total 639 km. The neighboring countries include
Nicaragua with a land area of 309 km and Panama having land area of
330 km. The terrains are both smooth and uneven. The coastal plains
are often separated by he rugged mountains.
Maritime claims
Costa Rica's exclusive economic zone is precisely 200 nautical
miles and the territorial sea limits 12 nautical miles. The climate
usually varies between the tropical and the subtropical. The dry
seasons are from December to April and the rainy seasons from May
to November. However, it is comparably cooler in highlands. There
is very little rain during the dry seasons in the highlands and on
the northern Pacific coast. Rainfall is greater at the southern end
of the Pacific coast and at the Caribbean coast. Elevation extremes
measure with the lowest pointing to Pacific Ocean at 0 meters depth
and the highest pointing Cerro Chirripo 3,810 meters above sea
level.
Natural resources
Costa Rica's total irrigated land measures to around 1,200 sq km
(1993 est.), of which 6 percent is for arable land, 5 percent is
used by permanent crops, 46 percent is for permanent pastures and
31 percent is occupied by forests and woodland, besides 12% (1993
est.) occupancy for other activities.
Natural Hazards
Costa Rica's landscape is threatened by occasional earthquakes,
hurricanes along Atlantic coast, frequent flooding of lowlands at
onset of rainy season. It also holds several active and dormant
volcanoes.
Topography
Costa Rica can be divided into three major topographic areas:
The Cordilleras (mountain chains), which are of volcanic origin,
the alluvial Caribbean Lowland Plains and the mountainous Pacific
Region.
 Environment
Costa Rica has not remained untouched by the effects of
industrialization. This has resulted in a great degree of
deforestation, owing to clearing of land for cattle ranching. Other
detrimental environmental effects include soil erosion, water
pollution perceptible in rivers and lakes, lost of aquatic and
marine life. The government of Costa Rica has come up with solution
for fisheries protection, besides focusing on the solid waste
management.
Also, Costa Rica is a signatory to various international
Environmental agreements that aim at conserving biodiversity,
protecting climate change, desertification, endangered species,
environmental modification, hazardous wastes, law of the sea,
marine dumping, nuclear test ban and ozone layer protection.
However, it has not ratified the climate change-kyoto protocol.
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