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Location:
Located in the continent of Central America, Costa Rica covers 51,060 square kilometers of land and 40 square kilometers of water, making it the 131st largest nation in the world with a total area of 51,100 square kilometers. It is bordered by two countries, Panama and Nicaragua.
Rivers/Lakes
Celeste River is a river in Tenorio Volcano National Park of Costa Rica. It is notable for its distinctive turquoise coloration. The Celeste River also borders several hot springs and has one large waterfall
The Pacuare River, or the Río Pacuare,and flows approximately 108 km to the Caribbean. It is a popular location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and riverboarding. Sierpe River is a river of Costa Rica. Boat traffic is common with both locals and tourists. A broad range of wildlife can be seen from the American Crocodile, various other reptile species, and exotic fish and birds. It joins the Rio Terraba. |
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Mountians and Volcanoes
Cerro Chirripó is the highest mountain in Costa Rica, with an elevation of 3,820 metres. It is located in the Chirripó National Park and is noted for its ecological wealth.
Arenal Volcano, in Spanish Volcán Arenal, is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica around 90 km northwest of San José, in the province of Alajuela, canton of San Carlos, and district of La Fortuna. The Irazú Volcano is an active volcano in Costa Rica, situated in the Cordillera Central close to the city of Cartago. The Poás Volcano, is an active 2,708-metre stratovolcano in central Costa Rica. It has erupted 39 times since 1828. |
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Climate/Terrain |
Rainfall |
The Pacific coast around Guanacaste, on the other hand is hot and dry, perfect for the many world-class beaches. Costa Rica itself has an average temperature of 70 F to 81 F. Due to its proximity to the equator, it has no real summer or winter. It does however have a rainy season from May to November.
Costa Rica's terrain shifts between hills, valleys, forests, mountains, volcanoes, wetlands and plains. |
While the average rainfall in the country is around 100 inches, some mountainous areas get as much as 25 feet of rainfall on a yearly basis. Also remember to keep in mind as we mentioned before that Costa Rica's Caribbean coast is rather unique and has its own microclimate.
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The image below is a climate graph of San Jose, which is the capital of Costa Rica!
Seas
It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 km of coastline (212 km on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km on the Pacific). Costa Rica shares a border with Nicaragua to the north (313 km long border) and with Panama to the south (348 km long border).