General Information:
A free, peace-loving country. Peace, tranquility and liberty are the keystones of life in Costa Rica. They form a fundamental part of its idiosyncrasies, in a world that is characterized today as hostile, egotistical and predatory. Costa Rica constitutionally abolished its army in 1949 and recently, in 1987, Oscar Arias Sanchez, the Costa Rican president at the time, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The origins of this identity so inclined towards liberty, respect, and tolerance amongst its citizens is not accidental: it is a result of an interesting and complex historical process that began in colonial times. Thanks to this process, the country is seen by the international community as a model civilized nation.
A bridge of biological diversity and cultural encounters
Due to it’s position of confluence between the northern and southern hemispheres and their respective biological treasures, an incredibly mixed variety of flora and fauna is present in Costa Rica in just seventy five thousand square kilometers. Adding to these attractions it’s climate of tolerance and peace, this country has become an invaluable link between diverse flora, fauna, cultures and nationalities.
Today San José is a genuinely cosmopolitan capital, surrounded by theaters, museums, parks and galleries. Two orchestras, the national and the youth, have toured the world, a grand National Theatre constructed in the nineteenth century, the Jade museum and other treasures enrich the Costa Rican cultural patrimony and attract thousands of tourists, principally Europeans and North Americans.
Security:
Costa Rica offers, compared to the rest of Latin America, a climate of justice, sufficiently secure economically and socially. A peaceful environment for a young person such as yourself to contribute, alongside youth from all over the world, to valuable projects in rural communities.
Climate:
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.