Political map of Costa Rica.

Shaded relief map of Costa Rica.

Map of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, 10° north of the equator and 84° west of the Prime Meridian. It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 km of coastline (212 km on the Caribbean coast and 1016 km on the Pacific). Map of Costa Rica. ... Map of Costa Rica. ... Download high resolution version (982x1226, 474 KB)Shaded relief map of Costa Rica. ... Download high resolution version (982x1226, 474 KB)Shaded relief map of Costa Rica. ... Download high resolution version (1015x1244, 1738 KB)Map of Costa Rica. ... Download high resolution version (1015x1244, 1738 KB)Map of Costa Rica. ... Central America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. ... The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America. ... The equator is an imaginary circle drawn around a planet at a distance halfway between the poles. ... The Prime Meridian, Greenwich The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of longitude) passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Greenwich, England; it is the meridian at which longitude is 0 degrees. ... Map of Central America and the Caribbean The Caribbean Sea is a tropical body of water adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. ... The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, peaceful sea, bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the worlds largest body of water. ...

Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639 km of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 km² of which 50,660 km² is land and 440 km² is water, making it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia. A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... State nickname: Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Governor Joe Manchin (D) Official languages English Area 62,809 km² (41st)  - Land 62,436 km²  - Water 376 km² (0. ...

The nation's terrain is coastal plain separated by rugged mountains in the center of the country. Costa Rica claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km). The country has a tropical and subtropical climate and is part of the Neotropic ecozone. It is part of many ecoregions, including Costa Rican seasonal moist forests, Bocas del Toro-San Bastimentos Island-San Blas mangroves, Mosquitia-Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast mangroves, Southern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves, Central American dry forests, and Talamancan montane forests. In international maritime law, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a seazone extending from a states coast over which the state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources. ... A nautical mile is a unit of length. ... Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending 12 twelve nautical miles from the shore of a littoral state that is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state, except that foreign ships (both military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... Subtropical (or semitropical) areas are those adjacent to the tropics, usually roughly defined as the ranges 23. ... The Neotropic ecozone is a terrestrial ecoregion which includes South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ... Ecozone is a classification system of the world first proposed by Miklos Udvardy under the name biogeographical realms for conservation purposes. ... An ecoregion is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ...

The country is noted for its national park system, administered by SINAC (Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion, or "National System of Conservation Areas"). This agency oversees over 160 protected areas in Costa Rica, of which 26 are national parks. Together these protected areas comprise over one-forth of Costa Rican territory. The largest national park is Cocos Island (Spanish: Isla del Coco), an island about 500 km from the Costa Rica's Pacific coast and 24km² in area. SINAC (Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion) is the government agency in Costa Rica that deals with national parks and wildlife refuges. ... ... Yosemite National Park in the United States. ...

Costa Rica's dry season is from December to April, while the rainy season is from May to November. The highlands areas are cooler. The lowest elevation level in the country is the Pacific Ocean at sea level, the highest point is Cerro Chirripo, a volcanic mountain with an elevation of 3,810 m (part of Cerro Chirripo National Park). On a clear day, it is possible to sea both the Caribbean and the Pacific from the peak. Elevation has several related meanings: Geography The elevation of a geographic location is its height above mean sea level (or possibly some other fixed point). ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... Cerro Chirripó is the highest mountain in Costa Rica, with an altitude of 3,819 metres. ... A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the Earths interior made molten or liquid by extremely high temperatures along with a reduction in pressure and/or the introduction of water or other volatiles) erupts through the surface of the planet. ...

Costa Rica is party to many environmental treaties, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Environmental Modification, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Montreal Protocol, the Ramsar Convention, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the Desertification Convention, the Endangered Species Convention, the Basel Convention, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Marine Dumping, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It has signed but not ratifed the Convention on Marine Life Conservation and the Kyoto Protocol. The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty that was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. ... note - abbreviated as Environmental Modification opened for signature - December 10, 1976 entered into force - October 5, 1978 objective - to prohibit the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques in order to further world peace and trust among nations parties - (66) Afghanistan, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria... UNFCCC logo. ... The largest Antarctic ozone hole ever recorded (September 2000) The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer from depletion by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. ... The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i. ... The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is an international agreement (see environmental agreement) signed in 1946 designed to make whaling sustainable. ... United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa opened for signature - October 14, 1994 entered into force - December 26, 1996 objective - to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported... The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between Governments, drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). ... In full, Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. ... United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Opened for signature ??? at ??? Entered into force November 16, 1994[1] Conditions for entry into force 60 ratifications Parties 148[2] The term United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, also called simply the Law of the Sea or... Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) note - abbreviated as Marine Dumping opened for signature - 29 December 1972 entered into force - 30 August 1975 objective - to control pollution of the sea by dumping and to encourage regional agreements supplementary to the Convention... Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Opened for signature September 10, 1996[1] at New York Entered into force Not yet in force Conditions for entry into force The treaty will enter into force 180 days after it is ratified by all of the following 44 (Annex 2) countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia... opened for signature - 29 April 1958 entered into force - 20 March 1966 objective - to solve through international cooperation the problems involved in the conservation of living resources of the high seas, considering that because of the development of modern technology some of these resources are in danger of being overexploited... Kyoto Protocol Opened for signature December 11, 1997 at Kyoto, Japan Entered into force February 16, 2005. ...

Natural resources:

• Hydropower from Lake Arenal, the largest lake in Costa Rica.

Natural hazards: occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season; active volcanoes (See Climate of Costa Rica). Hydraulic turbine and electrical generator. ... Lake Arenal is the largest lake in Costa Rica. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a trembling or a shaking movement of the Earths surface. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... Look up Flood on Wiktionary, the free dictionary A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the Earths interior made molten or liquid by extremely high temperatures along with a reduction in pressure and/or the introduction of water or other volatiles) erupts through the surface of the planet. ... Climate of Costa Rica Because Costa Rica is located only about eight degrees north of the equator, the climate is tropical year round. ...

Environment - current issues: deforestation, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching; soil erosion; water pollution (rivers); fisheries protection; solid waste management Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest. ... Look up Erosion on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case... Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ...

See also

• Costa Rica
• Climate of Costa Rica