Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in the Central American region of North America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly 51,180 km2 (19,760 sq mi). An estimated 352,381 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from southern Mexico to southeastern Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage.
San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San José is Costa Rica's seat of national government, focal point of political and economic activity, and major transportation hub. San José is simultaneously one of Costa Rica's cantons, with its municipal land area covering 44.62 square kilometers and having within it an estimated population of 352,381 people in 2022. Together with several other cantons of the central valley, including Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, it forms the country's Greater Metropolitan Area, with an estimated population of over 2 million in 2017. The city is named in honor of Joseph of Nazareth.
The wildlife of Costa Rica comprises all naturally occurring animals, fungi and plants that reside in this Central American country. Costa Rica supports an enormous variety of wildlife, due in large part to its geographic position between North and South America, its neotropical climate, and its wide variety of habitats. Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species, which represent nearly 5% of the species estimated worldwide, making Costa Rica one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Of these 500,000 species, a little more than 300,000 are insects.
Guarianthe, abbreviated Gur. in the horticultural trade, is a small genus of epiphytic orchids, growing in wet forests in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad. It was separated from the bifoliate Cattleyas in 2003, based on phylogenetic studies of nuclear DNA sequence data.
Adonis Hilario Vieria is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a striker and who played most of his career with Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, during the 1980s and 1990s.
Puerto Viejo is a district of the Sarapiquí canton, in the Heredia province of Costa Rica.
Lycaste skinneri, also known as Lycaste virginalis, is a species of epiphyte orchid that resides in the south of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, at an average altitude of 1650 meters above sea level.
Guarianthe aurantiaca is a species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Mexico, south to Costa Rica. The diploid chromosome number of G. aurantiaca has been determined as 2n = 40.
Warren Alberto Granados Quesada is a Costa Rican professional footballer. As of 2009, he plays for Asociación Deportiva Ramonense.
Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It is the main team representing the capital, but with the distinction of being massively followed throughout the whole country and overseas. The club was founded in 1935 and has competed in the Costa Rican first division since 1949. The name of the team comes from one of the club's main founders, Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. One of the most popular nicknames for the team El Monstruo Morado can be traced back to 1987, when the Costa Rican newspaper Diario Extra gave the team the nickname during a derby, because of the club's enormous following. A reporter commented that the sea of fans in the stands at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá in Tibás wearing purple, and the tremendous noise they were generating, made him feel like he was "in the presence of a thousand headed monster". Saprissa immediately adopted the nickname El Monstruo Morado. It remains the most lauded football team in the whole region.
San Vicente is a district of the Moravia canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica.
Santa Elena is a district of the La Cruz canton, in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica.
Santa Rita is a district of the Nandayure canton, in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica.
Pocosol is a district of the San Carlos canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica.
Cariari is a district of the Pococí canton, in the Limón province of Costa Rica.
San Pedro is a district of the Pérez Zeledón canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica. It is located 30 kilometers south of San Isidro de El General.
Tomás Povedano de Arcos was a Spanish painter, who spent much of his life in Costa Rica.
National Secondary Route 106, or just Route 106 is a National Road Route of Costa Rica, located in the Heredia province. Is a parallel road north to a segment of Route 1.
