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 from Rosa Esquivel Pereira
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Entry to Costa Rica
as a tourist :
Travelers could enter Costa Rica 90 days without visas.
Those who want to stay longer will need before the 90 days at least 72 hours to leave, to enter again to Costa Rica. The departure to Nicaragua is less complicated than to Panama.
With stopovers in the U.S. the entry requirements should be noted. Thus, since October 2004, you can only enter the U.S. without visas with a machine readable passport. This applies to all travelers (all ages). In this regard, everybody needs his own machine readable passport.
Further information you could get from the American Embassy in San José:
Tel: (506) 220-3939
Fax: (506) 232-7944
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Costa Rica
History, Environment and Nature
Costa Rica Information, Opinions and Pictures
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The Democratic Republic of Costa Rica in Central America is located in the tropics between Nicaragua in the north and Panama in the south. Its area measures 50660 square kilometers, and the distance between the two oceans is only about 119 km at the narrowest point. The highest point of the country is the Chiripó (3820 m), which is located on the Cordillera de Talamanca.
To Costa Rica belong some small islands: La Noita in the Caribbean Sea, Chira, Isla del Caño and Isla del Coco in the Pacific Ocean. Overall, Costa Rica is divided in seven provinces (Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas, San José).
Approximately 400 000 Indians lived in Costa Rica as Columbus came ashore in 1502, and there were four Indian tribes, the Caribs on the east coast and Borucas, Chibchas and the Diquis in the southwest. Some years later, the Spanish conquistadors tried to colonize the country systematically, but then classify Costa Rica as a subordinate colony because of its raw material poverty and insignificant strategic position. Cartago was founded and was until 1823 the capital of Costa Rica. In 1821 Costa Rica became independent after 2 years belonging to Mexico and, except of the military dictatorship by Tomás Guard from 1870 to 1882, the country developed to one of the largest democratic republics in Latin America and has since 1949 no longer own armed forces. Not to be wrong, Costa Rica has an image as one of the most stable and least corrupt countries in Latin America, even its presidents could get in court when it comes to corruption.
The national environmental problems are created by the cutting of forests for agricultural purposes. Once Costa Rica was completely forested, but lost from 1990 to 1995 an average of 3% of its forest area annually and reduced the total area finally to 25%. Another problem is the contamination of the soil by fertilizers and pesticides. In 1973 the Ministry of Health got the power to control the pollution of the environment. However, enough money and good stuff was missing, like today, to ensure effective controls. Also in terms of the garbage, there are still many problems to solve. Recycling solutions are still at the beginning. In addition to that, there are now the international environmental problems, global climate change and the associated warming of the oceans. More and more storms and hurricanes originate in the oceans and cause toxic algae education as a threat to animal life in the water.
In June 2009 physicians and researchers have warned again for health -and environmental problems, that are change due the climate change. Moreover, the economic damage from climate change is far greater than the currently held world economic crisis. The Health Organization has recognized the influenza A (H1N1 virus) now as a global epidemic, more than 30,000 people worldwide are ill (stand 11.06.2009).Costa Rica is in comparison with other countries in environmental matters very well.
The nature conservation plays a big role in Costa Rica and no other country has such an impressive range of protected areas of different categories. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (MINAE) published in 2003 that the country has about 256 protected areas. 25% of the land is protected in reserves or national parks.
Costa Rica is an exemplary country of natural tourism, even the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winner and current president of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias Sánchez, announced a radical struggle against the environmental destruction and want to have peace with the nature. Many people hope that these announcements will also be successful.
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5 Colones from 1972
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Coffee workers Costa Rica
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Dancing Limbo on the Carribean beach
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Arte, Bernd D. Kugler.
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nature parks Costa Rica.
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