Costa Ric The Happiest Country

Latin America Conference on Quality of Life

Intro: Costa Rica is a well developed country with a significant history that strives for equality and improvement. The peace loving country has a well developed government and economy and is known for its trade and international connections. However, from an unbiased perspective, its significant to mention the country has had struggles with poverty, civil wars, and instability in the past, although today’s statistics show it was deemed as “The Happiest Country” in 2010 and known for its docile demeanor.

Government: Known for being one of the most democratically stable countries in Latin America, Costa Rica’s government was only unstable during 1917 and 1948 when elections led to civil war. However
Costa Rica exports about $12.6 billion per year and imports approximately $15.1 billion each year. Currently, there is some poverty with an unemployment rate of 8.6% but has dropped 2.8% by the end of 2017 and inflation rates also decreased from 5% to 0.7% in 2015. Costa Rica’s main concerns are the growing debt and budget deficit but are working to be resolved. The country’s economy depended on agriculture with one-fifth of the population working in the agricultural industry, but has modernized since then. It is now depends on tourism, electronics, and medical manufacturing. Costa Rica uses a form of currency called the Costa Rica Colón. One US dollar equals exactly 565.43 Colónes which can be paid by the hundred thousands. Costa Rica has a well developed trading system and consistently trades with many countries including the United States who provides 40% of trade and goods exported from the US costed about $5.9 billion. Costa Rica also trades constantly with Venezuela, The Netherlands, and Japan and its economy is strong with a estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $61.5
Costa Rica also shares a Northern border with Nicaragua and a Southern border with Panama. The country is relatively small, with an area of 51,100 sq km, just slightly smaller than Virginia. The small country contains approximately 78 rivers and five mountain ranges. 440 sq km of the land is made up of lakes, and the terrain itself is rugged and rocky with varying depths, but the diverse landscape provides a home to over 12,119 plant species. 4.5% of the world’s biodiversity is found in Costa Rica, where vast forests cover almost half the country. Costa Rica is rich in wildlife diversity as well, inhabiting about 1,692 different species. But, with deforestation increasing, approximately 21,015 acres of forest are being lost annually, along with the endangered 836 species of various birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Although there are various ecological issues, Costa Rica’s wildlife is preserved carefully and adaptive to the warm climate as well. Costa Rica is normally a temperate climate with the tropical lowlands experiencing damp humidity with heavy rainfall while the Central Plateau is more mild, with less humidity and harsh weather. Costa Rica is environmentally stable with little to no harsh storms making it a popular site for tourism. Especially in the capital of San