Natural hazards:
occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent
flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides; active
volcanoes
Environment - current issues:
deforestation and land use change, largely a result of the clearing
of land for cattle ranching and agriculture; soil erosion; coastal
marine pollution; fisheries protection; solid waste management; air
pollution
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping,
Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:
four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San
Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu,
erupted destructively in 1963-65
People Costa Rica
Population:
3,956,507 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 29.5% (male 597,332; female 570,008)
15-64 years: 65% (male 1,300,206; female 1,271,010)
65 years and over: 5.5% (male 101,270; female 116,681) (2004 est.)
Median age:
total: 25.7 years
male: 25.2 years
female: 26.2 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.52% (2004 est.)
Birth rate:
18.99 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)