Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Costa Rica
conventional short form:
Costa Rica
local long form:
Republica de Costa Rica
local short form:
Costa Rica
Government type:
democratic republic
Capital:
name: San Jose
geographic coordinates:
9 56 N, 84 05 W
time difference:
UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose
Independence:
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Constitution:
previous 1825; latest adopted 7 November 1949; amended many times, last in 2005 (2005)
Legal system:
civil law system based on Spanish civil code; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Laura CHINCHILLA Miranda (since 8 May 2010); First Vice President Alfio PIVA Mesen (since 8 May 2010); Second Vice President Luis LIBERMAN Ginsburg (since 8 May 2010); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government:
President Laura CHINCHILLA Miranda (since 8 May 2010); First Vice President Alfio PIVA Mesen (since 8 May 2010); Second Vice President Luis LIBERMAN Ginsburg (since 8 May 2010)
cabinet:
Cabinet selected by the president
elections:
president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single four-year term; election last held on 7 February 2010 (next to be held in February 2014)
election results:
Laura CHINCHILLA Miranda elected president; percent of vote - Laura CHINCHILLA Miranda (PLN) 46.7%; Otton SOLIS (PAC) 25.1%, Otto GUEVARA Guth (ML) 20.8%, other 7.4%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections:
last held on 7 February 2010 (next to be held in February 2014)
election results:
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLN 24, PAC 11, ML 9, PUSC 6, PASE 4, other 3
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice (consists of 22 judges organized into 3 cassation chambers each with 5 judges, and the Constitutional Chamber with 7 judges)
judge selection and term of office:
Supreme Court of Justice judges elected by the National Assembly for 8-year terms with renewal decided by the National Assembly
subordinate courts:
appellate courts; first instance and justice of the peace courts; Superior Electoral Tribunal
Political parties and leaders:
Accessibility Without Exclusion or PASE [Oscar Andres LOPEZ Arias]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Authentic Confederation of Democratic Workers or CATD (Communist Party affiliate)
International organization participation:
BCIE, CACM, CD, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Shanon Muni FIGUERES Boggs (since 7 September 2010)
chancery:
2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 480-2200
FAX:
[1] (202) 265-4795
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
consulate(s):
Austin
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Gonzalo GALLEGOS
embassy:
Calle 120 Avenida O, Pavas, San Jose
mailing address:
APO AA 34020
telephone:
[506] 2519-2000
FAX:
[506] 2519-2305
Flag description:
five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white elliptical disk toward the hoist side of the red band; Costa Rica retained the earlier blue-white-blue flag of Central America until 1848 when, in response to revolutionary activity in Europe, it was decided to incorporate the French colors into the national flag and a central red stripe was added; today the blue color is said to stand for the sky, opportunity, and perseverance, white denotes peace, happiness, and wisdom, while red represents the blood shed for freedom, as well as the generosity and vibrancy of the people
note:
somewhat resembles the flag of North Korea; similar to the flag of Thailand but with the blue and red colors reversed
National symbol(s):
clay-colored robin known as Yiguirro
National anthem:
name: "Himno Nacional de Costa Rica" (National Anthem of Costa Rica)
lyrics/music: Jose Maria ZELEDON Brenes/Manuel Maria GUTIERREZ
note: adopted 1949; the anthem's music was originally written for an 1853 welcome ceremony for diplomatic missions from the United States and United Kingdom; the lyrics were added in 1903
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Costa Rica on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Costa Rica Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Costa Rica Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 06-Nov-14