Geography of Costa Rica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Political map of Costa Rica.

Shaded relief map of Costa Rica.

Map of Costa Rica.

1 General Location
2 Physical Geography
3 Climate and Ecology
4 Protected Areas
5 International Law
6 See also

[edit] General Location

Costa Rica is located on the Central American Isthmus, surrounding the point 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).

Costa Rica shares a border with Nicaragua to the north (309 km long border) and with Panama to the south (330 km long 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.

[edit] Physical Geography

The nation's terrain is coastal plain separated by rugged mountains, the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Talamanca, which form the spine of the country and separate the Pacific and Caribbean watersheds. Costa Rica claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km).

The spine of the country produces many major river systems. Rivers draining into the Caribbean include:

Rio Pacuare
Rio Parismina
Rio Reventazon
Rio Sixaola

[edit] Climate and Ecology

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. An inlet from the pacific the Gulf of Nicoya contains several small islands, the largest of these being Chira Island with a population of around four thousand.

Costa Rica's dry season is in most places from December to April, while the rainy season is from May to November. On the Caribbean coast, however, December is by far the wettest month. The highlands areas are always 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 see both the Caribbean and the Pacific from the peak.

[edit] Protected Areas

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 the protected areas comprise over one-fourth of Costa Rican territory. See National Parks of Costa Rica for more information on individual parks and the National Park system.

[edit] International Law

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.

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).

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