Top 10 Lesser Know Facts about Costa Rica

Known for its amazing natural scenery and landscape, and the ever-flowing bustling diversity, Costa Rica has a bunch of happy and wonderful residents, all with open arms welcoming you. It is well-known that around a quarter of Costa Rica is kept for conservation needs. The natural beauty is what draws people to Costa Rica from all over the world, and the Costa Ricans are committed to taking care of their surroundings. There are around eight biological reserves, twenty national parks, plenty of animal refuges and there are protected areas too. In short, twenty-six percent of Costa Rica is protected by the government.

In Costa Rica, it is tourism that earns the country a lot of foreign exchange. The diverse landscape and all the beauty around in its natural form, two oceans and plenty of access to adventure sports and more, all of this have made Costa Rica a hot spot for tourists from all across the globe.

There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Costa Rica - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has earmarked four locations across the land as World Heritage Sites, because of their natural value and universal cultural appeal. The four places are-

50. La Amistad Nationa Park,
50. Cocos Island National Park,
50. Area de Conservación Guanacaste,
50. The Precolumbian Chiefdom Settlements that has the Stone Spheres of the Diquís.

An interesting geographical fact amongst many facts About Costa Rica is that it has to south Panama and to the north, it has Nicaragua. To the west lies the mighty Pacific Ocean, and to the east, it has the beautiful Caribbean sea. The climate here is a mix of subtropical as well as tropical. From the months of December to late April, you would experience the dry season. The rains lash the county from early May to late November.

Lesser known facts about Costa Rica

1. Costa Rica has a high rate of life expectancy in the world

Sources from the World Bank said the life expectancy for Costa Ricans was clocked to be around eighty years of age. This figure is higher than in the USA. It is the famous Nicoya region of Costa Rica which is known as a Blue Zone, where you would find people with the highest expectancies living- not just in Costa Rica, but in the world too.

2. Costa Rica has over 200 volcanic formations

Of these 200 volcanic formations, around one hundred and twelve have shown feeble activity in the past. Sixty of them are considered to be dormant, with no signs of activity at all to be seen. The most active volcano around Central America is Arenal, and the volcano with the widest crater all across the globe would be Poas. Finally, in Costa Rica, the tallest volcano would be the Irazú.

3. Costa Rica is slightly smaller than Lake Michigan.

Costa Rica is only about 19,730 square miles. This means it takes over lesser space than Lake Michigan, USA.

4. Costa Rica has more than five percent of biodiversity of the world

Although Costa Rica isn’t a very big country, there is a lot of life packed into the borders. Costa Rica occupies only .03 percent of the world, but it has a boasting appeal of around the highest density of diversity. There are around five hundred thousand species in Costa Rica making it their home. The borders have around 3 percent of the world’s biodiversity. The famous Corcovado National Park is known as the most biologically intense area across the world.

5. Plenty of butterflies in Costa Rica.

This is serious; Costa Rica has tons of butterflies around. Around ninety percent of the butterfly species can be found here in Central America.

5. Costa Rica has around 50 species of hummingbirds.

There are three hundred and thirty-eight species of hummingbirds known to mankind, of which around fifty of the species live in Costa Rica alone. The male scintillant hummingbird is the smallest hummingbird found in Costa Rica, and it weighs just two grams. The violet saber wing hummingbird is the largest and it weighs around eleven and a half grams.

6. Costa Rica residents call themselves Ticos and Ticas.

Colloquially, Costa Ricans call themselves Ticos and Ticas- for males and females respectively.

7. The use of the word NARANJA is pretty common amongst lovers.

The word NARANJA is often used by Costa Ricans to refer to their soul mates or their better halves. If translated, it literally means half an orange.

8. The country's national anthem is played by most radio stations at 7:00 am daily.

In Costa Rica, the radio stations, most of them play the country’s national anthem at 7 am daily. "Noble Patria, Tu Hermosa Bandera" is the national anthem, which was first played in the year 1852 welcoming the US and the UK diplomats. The song and music were composed by Manuel Maria Gutierrez, the lyrics were written by the famous Jose Maria Zeledon in 1903. It was only in 1949 that the song became officially recognized as the Costa Rican national anthem.

9. There were no street signs in Costa Rica until 2012.

With the help of GPS, there would be street names displayed in Costa Rica. But locals use landmarks when it comes to giving and getting directions.  San Jose residents used street names for directions, and numbers too, up until the 20^th century. This practice slowed down and faded away after there was a population boom in the 50s and the 60s. In the year 2012, Costa Rica undertook a million-dollar project to bring street signs and even a postal system back to San Jose.

10. Costa Ricans live by PURA VIDA

You would often hear Costa Ricans saying PURA VIDA, which is used to greet each other and to say goodbye as well. If literally translated, PURA VIDA means pure life.

In a nutshell…

You would find a lot of warm and welcoming Costa Ricans ready to mingle with you and show you around when you come to Costa Rica. The land is full of warm-hearted and happy people. While you’re planning on your yoga retreats Costa Rica has on offer and sessions in Costa Rica, don’t forget to read up more about the people, the place, the facts about Costa Rica and the culture of this wonderful country. It may be small in size, but the hearts of the Costa Ricans are mighty big. If you have been to Costa Rica, do share your experience with us.