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:

4,195,914 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 27.2% (male 584,782/female 557,952) 15-64 years: 66.8% (male 1,416,456/female 1,384,692) 65 years and over: 6% (male 116,461/female 135,571) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 27.1 years male: 26.7 years female: 27.6 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.388% (2008 est.)