Costa Rica Presentation

By:SophiaBuckley

Map of Costa Rica

ThisisamapofCostaRica.ItislocatedinSouthAmerica,borderingtheCaribbeanSeaandthePacificOcean. Costa Rica is divided up into 7 provinces: San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Puntarenas,Guanacaste,andLimór.SanJoséisthebiggestandmostpopularcity.

The Flag of Costa Rica

ThisflagbecametheofficialflagonSeptember29,1848.Onthesideoftheflag,itshowsthreevolcanoeswhichrepresentthecountry’sthreemountainswhichdividethetwooceanssurroundingCostaRica.PacíficaFernándezdesignedthisflag.

Statistics

SanJoséisthecapitalcityofCostaRica.4.857millionpeopleliveinCostaRicawithapopulaZonof1.025millionpeoplelivinginSanJosé.TheofficiallanguageinCostaRicaisSpanishbutsomeindigenouslanguagesarespokenaswell:Maléku,CabécarandBribri.ThecurrencyinCostaRicaisCostaRicancolónbutUSdollarsarealsoacceptedinmostplacesaswell.OneCostaRicancolónisequalto0.0023Canadiandollar.

Geography

CostaRicaisinCentralAmerica,borderingNicaraguaandPanama.CostaRicais51,060squarekilometersandhas40squarekilometersofwater.CostaRicahaslotsoffamousacZvevolcanoesincludingtheArenalVolcanoandtheTurriabaVolcano.Theyalsohavelotsofstreamsandriverswhichacractlotsofkayakersandraders.CostaRicaisatropicalcountrywithlotsofbeaches,jungles,riversandlakes.MaytoNovemberarerainyseasonsandDecembertoAprilareverydryseasons.

History of Costa Rica

ChristopherColumbusdiscoveredCostaRicain1502andthelandwasgiventoSpain.In1808,coffeewasintroducedfromCubaanditbecameCostaRica’smaincrop.Then,in1821,CentralAmericafinallytookCostaRica’sindependence.CostaRicabecamefullyindependentin1838.CostaRicaisaverypeacefulcountrybutdidhada6weekcivilwaroverthepresidenZalelecZonresultsin1948.CostaRicaissuchapeacefulcountrythattheyhaven'thadanaZonalarmysince1948.

Traditions and holidays

TheFesZvalofLights(alsoknowasFesZvaldelaLuz)inSanJoséisoneofthemostawaitedChristmaseventsinCostaRica.ItisheldonthesecondSaturdayofDecembereveryyear.ThefesZvalhasanextravagantparadewithbigfloats,dancersandmarchingbands.SemanaSantaisaCostaRicanholidaythatoccurstheweekleadinguptoEaster,tohonourtheresurrecZonofJesusChrist.CatholicchurchesmakehugeboldcolourfulprocessionstohonourJesusChrist.ManyparadestakeplaceduringthisZmeandsomepeopledressupascharactersfromtheBible.TheCarnivalofPuntarenasisanotherverypopularfesZvalthatisheldFebruary11-20.ThefesZvalhasfireworks,mulZplebands,paradesandtonsofothercoolacZviZes.SomanypeoplecometoseethisfesZvalthattrafficislinedupforhours.ThousandsofpeoplecometoCostaRicatoexperiencethisfesZval.

CarnivalofPuntanars

SemanaSanta

FesZvalofLights

Costa Rica Customs

Whenyousayhelloorgoodbye,itispolitetogiveakissonthecheek,orahug.TheonlyexcepZonismendonotkissmen,theywillusuallyshakehandsorgiveanonearmedhug.AnothercustomofCostaRicansistheyareusually30ormoreminuteslatetoevents.Itisnotconsideredrude,justsomethingtheydo.WhenplanninganacZvity,peoplewillsaytheZmeexpecZngyoutobelate.AthirdcustomofCostaRicansisthattheydon'tgetmadinpublic.CostaRicanswillneveryellorberudeinpublic.Theyalsoneversayno,usuallytheywilljustsaymaybeastheythinkitisrudetosayotherwise.Lastly,womenandmendressverynicely.Womenusuallyweardressesoriftheywearjeans,theywouldlikelywearheelsanddressthemup.Menwillalmostneverwearshortsandusuallywillwearnicepantsandashirt.DressingcasuallyismoreformalinCostaRica.Bothmenandwomentakeprideintheirappearance.WomenalsodressalotmoreprovocaZvelythantheydoinNorthAmericaoutsideofwork.

Famous People

SilviaPollisaCostaRicanOlympicswimmer.ShewasthefirstpersontowinCostaRicaamedalattheOlympics.Shewonasilvermedalinthe200meterfreestyleatthe1988summerOlympics.Shealsohasasisterwhohaswonagoldmetalin200meterfreestyleatthe1996Olympicgames.SilviaandhersisteraretheonlyCostaRicanswhohavewonmetalsattheOlympics.NeryBrenesisaCostaRicanrunnerwhoreachedthesemifinalsinthe400metersprintatthe2008Olympics.Hehasalsowon7goldmetalsattheCentralAmericanChampionshipsfrom2004to2011.FranklinChangDiazisaengineerandformerNasaastronaut.HealsoisthefounderandCEOofAdAstraRocketCompany.Hiswholelifehehaswantedtogotospaceandhefinallyaccomplishedthatdreamwhenhewentonaspaceshuclemissionin1986.

Food

Acasodoisaverypopularmealthathasrice,blackbeans,salad,torZllaandapieceofmeat.SomepeoplehavedifferentvariaZonsofacasodabuttheyaremostlythesamething.Thisisservedaseitherdinnerorlunch.AnotherCostaRicanfoodisagallopinto.Agallopintoisricewithredorblackbeans.ItcanbeeatenasanypartofamealandisastapleinaCostaRicandiet.Lastly,salsalizanoisaCostaRicancondimentthatisusedwhilecookingortoaddflavour.Itisservedwithmostfoodsandhasavarietyofvegetablesinit.

CasodoGalloPinto

SalsaLizano

Tourists Attractions

PoasVolcaonoNaZonalParkisoneofCostaRica'smostpopularparks.IntheparkthereisavolcanocalledPoasVolcano(hencethename).ThisvolcanoisoneofCostaRica'smostacZveandbiggestvolcanoes.AnothertouristacracZonisManuelAntonioNaZonalPark.ItislocatedonthePacificcoastinCostaRica.Ithasthreebeaches,anddifferentforesttrailswhereyoucanseemanyspeciesofanimals.IthasbeennamedoneofthemostbeauZfulbeachesintheworld.AnothertouristacracZonistheNaZonalTheatreofCostaRica.ItwasopenedonOctober211897.Itwasbuiltbythecoffeegrowerswhowantedtohavetheirownplacetosellcoffeeandtohaveabuildingthatrepresentedtheirculture.ItislocatedinSanJoséandhasamazingperformanceswithlavishinterior.

Government

CostaRicahasademocraZcrepublicangovernment.AdemocraZcgovernmentiswhenthepeopleelecttheirownlegislatureanditisalsorepublicanbecausetheheadofstateisapresidentwhoiselectedbythepeople.Every4years,naZonalelecZonsareheld.ThecurrentpresidentisLuisGuillermoSolis.ThepoliZcalsystemisdividedinto3powers:theLegislaZvePower,theExecuZvePower,andtheJudicialPower.ThecapitalcityisSanJoséwhichiswheretheparliamentis.

Thank you for watching my presentation! I hope you learned

something new!