About Costa Rica Vista Valverde Bed and Breakfast San Ramon Costa Rica

This Central American country lies between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. Its area slightly exceeds that of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. It has a narrow Pacific coastal region. Cocos Island (10 sq mi; 26 sq km), about 300 mi (483 km) off the Pacific Coast, is under Costa Rican sovereignty. Volcanoes, rain forests, cloud forests, hotsprings, waterfalls and wildlife form one of the most diverse and complex ecosystems on the planet. Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates and lowest infant mortality rates in the world.

Dr. Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia was elected President in 1940. His enlightened policies included land reform, a guaranteed minimum wage and progressive taxation. But when his United Social Christian Party refused to step down after losing the 1948 election, civil war erupted. The anti-Calderon forces led by Jose Mar¡a (Don Pepe) Figueres Ferrer were supported by Guatemala and Cuba, and he won the war which lasted 40 days and cost 2,000 lives.

Figueres became head of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic of Costa Rica. He consolidated reforms introduced by Calderon and introduced others: He banned the Communist Party, gave women the vote, granted full citizenship to blacks, abolished the armed forces, established a term limit for presidents and nationalized the banks and insurance companies.

Don Pepe died in 1990 a national hero, having set the scene for the social and economic progress that would earn Costa Rica a reputation as a peaceful and stable democracy in one of the world's most politically unstable and war-torn regions. When civil war broke out in neighboring Nicaragua, Costa Rica was drawn reluctantly into the conflict, its northern zone being used as a base first for Sandinista and later for "contra" forces. In 1986, a young lawyer called Oscar Arias Sanchez was elected president on a platform of peace. Arias' tireless efforts to promote peace in the region were rewarded when the five Central American presidents signed his peace plan in Guatemala City in 1987, an achievement that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Costa Rica is a tropical country which contains several distinct climatic zones. There is no winter or summer as such and most regions have a rainy season from May to November and a dry season from December to April. Annual rainfall averages 100 inches nationwide with some mountainous regions getting as much as 25 feet on exposed eastern slopes. Temperature is more a matter of elevation than location with a mean of around 72 degrees in the Central Valley, 82 degrees on the Atlantic coast and 89 degrees on the Pacific coast.