<p><b>Costa Rica</b> (<span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><small><a title="British English" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English">UK</a>: </small><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a title="Help:IPA/English" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English">/<span title="/ˌ/: secondary stress follows">ˌ</span><span title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span><span title="/ɒ/: 'o' in 'body'">ɒ</span><span title="'s' in 'sigh'">s</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span><span class="wrap"> </span><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'r' in 'rye'">r</span><span title="/iː/: 'ee' in 'fleece'">iː</span><span title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span>/</a></span></span>, <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><small><a title="American English" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English">US</a>: </small><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a title="Help:IPA/English" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English">/<span title="/ˌ/: secondary stress follows">ˌ</span><span title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span><span title="/oʊ/: 'o' in 'code'">oʊ</span><span title="'s' in 'sigh'">s</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span>-/</a></span> <span class="ext-phonos"><span id="ooui-php-1" class="ext-phonos-PhonosButton noexcerpt ext-phonos-PhonosButton-emptylabel oo-ui-widget oo-ui-widget-enabled oo-ui-buttonElement oo-ui-buttonElement-frameless oo-ui-iconElement oo-ui-buttonWidget" data-nosnippet="" data-ooui="{"_":"mw.Phonos.PhonosButton","href":"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/transcoded\/7\/76\/En-us-Costa_Rica.ogg\/En-us-Costa_Rica.ogg.mp3","rel":["nofollow"],"framed":false,"icon":"volumeUp","data":{"ipa":"","text":"","lang":"en","wikibase":"","file":"En-us-Costa Rica.ogg"},"classes":["ext-phonos-PhonosButton","noexcerpt","ext-phonos-PhonosButton-emptylabel"]}"></span><sup class="ext-phonos-attribution noexcerpt navigation-not-searchable"><a title="File:En-us-Costa Rica.ogg" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-us-Costa_Rica.ogg">ⓘ</a></sup></span></span>; <span class="IPA-label IPA-label-small">Spanish:</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="es-Latn-fonipa"><a title="Help:IPA/Spanish" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish">[ˈkosta<span class="wrap"> </span>ˈrika]</a></span>; literally “Rich Coast”), officially the <b>Republic of Costa Rica</b> (<a title="Spanish language" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language">Spanish</a>: <i lang="es">República de Costa Rica</i>), is a country in the Central American region of <a title="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America">North America</a>. Costa Rica is bordered by <a title="Nicaragua" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a> to the north, the <a title="Caribbean Sea" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Sea">Caribbean Sea</a> to the northeast, <a title="Panama" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama">Panama</a> to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as <a title="Maritime boundary" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_boundary">maritime border</a> with <a title="Ecuador" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador">Ecuador</a> to the south of <a title="Cocos Island" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos_Island">Cocos Island</a>. It has a population of around five million<sup id="cite_ref-UN_WPP_10-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-UN_WPP-10">[10]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-UN_WPP_2022_11-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-UN_WPP_2022-11">[11]</a></sup> in a land area of 51,060 km<sup>2</sup> (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, <a title="San José, Costa Rica" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jos%C3%A9,_Costa_Rica">San José</a>, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.<sup id="cite_ref-worldscapitalcities.com_12-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-worldscapitalcities.com-12">[12]</a></sup></p>
<p>The <a title="Sovereign state" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_state">sovereign state</a> is a <a title="Unitary state" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state">unitary</a> <a title="Presidential system" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_system">presidential</a> <a title="Constitution of Costa Rica" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Costa_Rica">constitutional</a> <a title="Republic" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic">republic</a>. It has a long-standing and stable democracy and a highly educated workforce.<sup id="cite_ref-seattletimes.com_13-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-seattletimes.com-13">[13]</a></sup> The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%.<sup id="cite_ref-seattletimes.com_13-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-seattletimes.com-13">[13]</a></sup> Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and <a title="Ecotourism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotourism">ecotourism</a>. Many foreign manufacturing and services companies operate in Costa Rica’s <a title="Free-trade zone" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-trade_zone">Free Trade Zones</a> (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives.<sup id="cite_ref-cinde.org_14-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-cinde.org-14">[14]</a></sup></p>
<p>Costa Rica was inhabited by <a title="Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Costa_Rica">indigenous peoples</a> before coming under <a title="Spanish Empire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Empire">Spanish rule</a> in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the <a title="First Mexican Empire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Mexican_Empire">First Mexican Empire</a>, followed by membership in the <a title="Federal Republic of Central America" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America">Federal Republic of Central America</a>, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Following the brief <a title="Costa Rican Civil War" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rican_Civil_War">Costa Rican Civil War</a> in 1948, it permanently <a title="Public Force of Costa Rica" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Force_of_Costa_Rica">abolished its army</a> in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign <a title="List of countries without armed forces" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_without_armed_forces">nations without a standing army</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup></p>
<p>The country has consistently performed favorably in the <a title="Human Development Index" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index">Human Development Index</a> (HDI), placing 58th in the world as of 2022, and fifth in Latin America.<sup id="cite_ref-UNHDR_18-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-UNHDR-18">[18]</a></sup> It has also been cited by the <a title="United Nations Development Programme" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Development_Programme">United Nations Development Programme</a> (UNDP) as having attained much higher <a title="Human development (economics)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_development_(economics)">human development</a> than other countries at the same income levels, with a better record on human development and inequality than the median of the region.<sup id="cite_ref-HDI10_19-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#cite_note-HDI10-19">[19]</a></sup> It also performs well in comparisons of <a class="mw-redirect" title="Democracy Index" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index">democratic governance</a>, press freedom, subjective happiness and <a title="Happy Planet Index" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Planet_Index">sustainable wellbeing</a>. It has the 8th freest press according to the <a class="mw-redirect" title="Press Freedom Index" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index">Press Freedom Index</a>, it is the 35th most democratic country according to the <a title="Freedom in the World" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_in_the_World">Freedom in the World</a> index and is the 23rd happiest country in the 2023 <a title="World Happiness Report" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report">World Happiness Report</a>.</p>
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