Land use: arable land: 4.4% permanent crops: 5.87% other: 89.73% (2005)
Irrigated land:
1,080 sq km (2003)
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:
4,075,261 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.3% (male 590,261/female 563,196)
15-64 years: 66% (male 1,359,750/female 1,329,346)
65 years and over: 5.7% (male 108,041/female 124,667) (2006 est.)
Median age:
total: 26.4 years
male: 26 years
female: 26.9 years (2006 est.)