Costa Rica Essay -- essays research papers

General Information Within it's 51,100 square kilometers there is a wider variety of species of birds than in all of Europe or North America. With a relatively small population of roughly three million inhabitants, Costa Rica also boast of one of the oldest and more consolidated democracies in Latin America. In 1869 the primary education for both sexes was declared obligatory and free of cost, defrayed by the State. In 1882 the death sentence was abolished. In the year 1949 the armed forces were abolished and in 1983 Perpetual Neutrality was proclaimed. Prestigious international human rights organizations have their headquarters in Costa Rica.. Beacause of this, of its lush 1500 kilometers of tropical sun-bathed beaches and the wild diversity of flora and fauna to be found in it's wide array of microclimates Costa Rica has justifiably earned it's reputation of paradise regained. Being located within the tropics, seasonal changes in Costa Rica are not as drastic as they are in countries on other latitude s. There is a 'dry" season (equivalent to summer and spring) during which temperatures pleasantly in the high 20’s (Degrees Celsius), which goes from December to May, and a "wet" season from June till November during which mornings are usually sunny and showers might be expected after noon. On areas near the coasts temperatures may be as much as ten degrees higher, where as in the Chirripo Peak, the highest mountain of Costa Rica (3800 meters) temperature may drop down to freezing point although snow is unheard of, even at the Chirripo. Costa Rica's official language is Spanish. On the Caribbean Coast a small minority of Jamaican descendants speak a local version of English, and most Costa Rican can understand and speak a bit of English. Quite recently all public schools made mandatory the learning of a second language. The main religion, as in the rest of Latin America is the Roman Catholic, but there is a very wide margin of tolerance.The national currency is the colon. All air traffic to and from Costa Rica is handled through the Juan Santamarà ­a Airport, located 29 minutes from San Josà ©, in the city of Alajuela. Government Costa Rica is a democratic republic, as stated by the 1949 Constitution, which guarantees all citizens and foreigners equality before the law, the right to own property, the right of petition and assembly, freedom o... ...nts are required to pass tests on all subjects studied during those years. The most notorious of these tests are the Bachillerato Tests, which are required to get the high school diploma needed for admission to Universities. Although the country lacked a university until 1940, Costa Rica now has four state-funded universities and a score of small private ones, whose number has increased dramatically in the last decade, due to the difficulty of being admitted to state-funded, more prestigious universities. Opportunities abound for adults to earn the primary or secondary diplomas they failed to gain as children. The University of Costa Rica (UCR), the largest and oldest university, enrolls some 35,000 students, mostly on scholarships, but even paying full tuition is not hard as it rarely surpasses $200 a semester. The main campus is in the northeastern San Jose community of San Pedro but the UCR also has regional centers in Alajuela, Turrialba, Puntarenas and Cartago. In addition t here are many private institutions like, the Autonomous University of Central America, the University for Peace, sponsored by the United Nations offering a master’s degree in communications for Peace.