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Costa Rica is one of the few countries worldwide to have managed to reverse the deforestation trend in just a few decades.
Cited as an example by many international organizations, including very recently the FAO in its publication "The State of the World's Forests 2020", this small country has demonstrated that it is possible to increase a forest cover from 26% in the 1980s to more than 52% today.
Thanks in particular to an effective public policy put in place in the 1990s and the allocation of an allowance both to forest owners who manage their land in a sustainable manner and to farmers who replant trees, Costa Rica has not only carried out large-scale reforestation, choosing exclusively endemic and varied plant species, but has also extended protected areas including national parks, which in turn have enabled the development of ecotourism and thus jobs for the benefit of local populations.
One of the most interesting points lies precisely in the perfectly successful articulation between the extension of forests and socially acceptable and even politically popular public policy.
To learn more about Costa Rica's magnificent biodiversity, we invite you to visit our page: "Environmental Protection"
According to the "2019 World Press Freedom Index" published by Reporters Without Borders, Costa Rica has distinguished itself as the most respectful country from all Latin America regarding press freedom. It thus by far outperforms other Latin American countries and notably Chile (46th), Argentina (57th), and Panama (79th). Costa Rica indeed enjoys an advanced legislation on freedom of information and is renowned for its free and independent media. Moreover, with its 18th position in the world, Costa Rica gets even ahead of a range of big democratic nations such as Canada (18th), Australia (21st) or France (32nd).
The winners are respectively Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Switzerland, for its part, occupies a nice sixth position. To know more on this welcoming tropical nation, deeply stable and democratic, see our chapter devoted to the "Political stability of Costa Rica".
Among the preferred destinations of expatriates, Costa Rica arrives in 7th position in the world’s ranking carried out by InterNations in "Expat Insider 2018".
This survey is one of the widest and the most thorough conducted among people living and working abroad.
Costa Rica distinguishes itself namely by its quality of life included amazing leisure options, by its ease of settling in this true paradise and making new friends, as well as by its ideal work-life balance far away from stress…
During high season 2016-2017, WestJet launches a new nonstop flight between Calgary and Liberia four times a week. Air Canada has also started a new direct flight during high season twice weekly since December 2016, departing from Montreal and arriving in San José.
Since November 2016, Air France provides, during high season, several direct flights a week between Paris and San José, while the Swiss airline Edelweiss has started, since May 2017, weekly nonstop flights between Zurich and San José.
These flights complement the 2016-2017 offer of new nonstop flights to Costa Rica! Indeed, since April 2016, British Airways has a direct flight from London to San José and, also since April 2016, a nonstop flight is operated by Southwest Airlines from Los Angeles to Liberia. To discover other practical information, have a look to our page "Travel to Costa Rica".
The report, published each year jointly by the World Bank and IFC (International Finance Corporation), measures the ease of starting but also carry on an economic activity in 189 economies in the world.
In the "Doing Business 2016" publication, Costa Rica gained 21 places at once.
It is among the 10 economies that improved the most worldwide to do business!
It is the third time since 2009 that Costa Rica is ranked first country in the world by the British organization New Economics Foundation concerning the sustainable well-being.
The ranking mainly takes into account three fundamental criteria: life expectancy, experienced well-being by inhabitants and ecological footprint of the country on the planet.
Among the favorable elements in Costa Rica, one may mention a life expectancy of 80 years, which makes of it the second highest life expectancy in the Americas, but also an energetic production largely based on renewable sources and an ambitious policy concerning sustainable development as notably shown by the challenge of becoming one of the first carbon-neutral economies of the planet!
In "The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015", Costa Rica ranks in strong position, ahead of major countries like Brazil, Mexico or Argentina.
If the Top 3 ranking is dominated by Switzerland, Singapore and the United States, Costa Rica can pride itself in being part of the Latin America Top 3, surpassed only by Chile and Panama.
Among the key factors that explain this fine resultat of Costa Rica in terms of competitiveness, mention can be made of its technological readiness, a quality educational system, its excellent innovation capacity as well as its business sophistication.
According to "The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13", Costa Rica is by far the first country of Latin America to offer an educational system of such high quality. Based on a massive panel of 144 States, it ranks 21st, being among the leading group like many occidental countries, such as Denmark or Germany which are respectively 19th and 20th.
In Latin America, economies as developed as Argentina or Chile occupy only the 89th and 91st position. And, in Central America itself, Costa Rica is also definitely ahead of all the countries of the region, inter alia, Panama and Honduras, respectively ranked 112th and 135th...
This strong performance is not an accident. For more than 60 years, Costa Rica has been working on education, as well on health, by the way. To know more on the broader context of this policy, have a look to our page dedicated to the remarkable "Political stability" of the country.
By winning the three first places on the podium, Costa Rica is the overall champion of the 2012 Ranking establishing the "Best Beach Destinations in Central America", awarded by the travelers on Tripadvisor, one of the most visited travel websites, getting ahead of the other exotic destinations like Honduras, Nicaragua or Belize.
In Costa Rica, the province of Guanacaste, located along the Pacific Ocean, is one of the most acclaimed by the travelers.
To know more about it, discover our special page on "Guanacaste" as well as the page dedicated to the many "Activities and sports in Costa Rica".
Costa Rica has set itself the ambitious target of producing 95% of its electric energy from renewable energy sources. Currently, it is already one of the most advanced countries of the planet regarding green energy sources and the first of Central America: 90% of its electric production comes indeed from renewable sources!
Hydraulic energy from the numerous rivers and streams is the largest contributor to the electric production (75%). Geothermal power also substantially participates to it (12%) thanks to the volcanic mountain range crossing Costa Rica. The country produces, to a far lesser extent, wind and solar energy as well as biomass. Regarding fossil fuel-sourced electricity, it represents less than 8% of the electric production…