Brief Geographical Data 
Situation. —Costa Rica is situated approximately between the latitudes 8? 
and 10? north of the equator, and between longitudes 83? and 8 6? west of 
Greenwich. 
Boundaries. —North: the Republic of Nicaragua. South: the Republic of 
Panama East: the Atlantic Ocean. West: the Pacific Ocean. 
Configuration .—The Atlantic coast is generally unindented and is very 
swampy in parts. 
The Pacific coast is deeply indented and has many fine inlets, notably 
Culebra Bay and the Gulfs of Nicoya and Osa (Golfo Dulce) which offer safe 
harbor to large fleets. 
Dimensions. —The area of Costa Rica is roughly 30,000 square kilometers 
or 17,500 square miles. It is the smallest but one of the five Central American 
republics. The smallest is Salvador, which is about half the size of Costa Rica. 
General Topography .—Extensive plains line the coast, especially in Guana- 
caste in the north-west and in the region of San Carlos and the Tortugueros in 
the north-east. As one crosses the continent these plains give place to high moun¬ 
tain ranges which traverse the country from northwest to south-east. These 
mountains, which form part of the main backbone of the Americas which stret¬ 
ches from the Rocky Mountains in the north to the Andes in the south, are 
known as the Guanacaste, Central and Talamanca Cordilleras. The highest peak 
is Chirripo (1 2,555 feet). 
Volcanoes .—There are several volcanoes in Costa Rica, mostly inactive. 
The most important are Irazu (1 1,322 feet), Poas (9,000 feet), Barba 
(10,000 feet), and Turrialba (10,560 feet). 
Rivers. —Three are many rivers to drain away the waters of both the Atlan¬ 
tic and the Pacific watersheds. The most important are the San Carlos, Reventazon, 
Sixaola. Tarcoles, and Diquis. 
Climate. —Owing to the sharp differences in elevation over a comparatively 
small area, the climate is likewise vastly different in various parts of the country. 
On the coasts one finds the full heat of the tropics. Climbing to the central 
pleteau one enjoys a temperate, equable climate which is fairly constant all the 
year round. Higher up in the mountains the temperature falls sharply at night. 
Snow and frost are unknown. 
Minerals .—Costa Rica is rich in minerals although to a great extent still 
unexploited. Gold, silver, manganese, iron, mercury, lead, sulphur, coal, petro¬ 
leum, chinaclay and copper all exist in varying quantities. 
Vegetation. —Every kind of vegetation is to be found in Costa Rica, rang¬ 
ing from the tropical palms, ferns and bananas of the coast to the rubber, cof¬ 
fee, and oranges of the temperate central plateau, while high up in the mount- 
tains are many pines, cypresses and cedars. 
Population. —The inhabitants of Costa Rica number about 600,000, or 
the least populated of the five Central American countries. Fully three quar¬ 
ters live in the Central Plateau, the remaining fourth being sparsely scattered 
in remote corners of the republic. 
Products. —Costa Rica produces Coffee, Bananas,, Sugar, Cocoa, Corn, 
Beans, Rice, Pineaples, Oranges and other tropical fruits. 
Cattle are raised in large quantities. Various hardwoods are exported. 
Government. —Costa Rica is an independent republic. The government 
is divided into the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. The National 
Congress consists of 43 deputies, half of whom are elected every two years 
for a period of four years. 
The President of the Republic is elected by popular vote every four years. 
The President nominates his own cabinet. 
Costa Rica enjoys democratic goverment in every sense of the word 
and nowhere in the world will one find greater regard for such rights of free 
peoples as free speech, freedom of the press, religious liberty and non persecu¬ 
tion of political opponents. 
Tourist inmigration regulations 
Visitors to Costa Rica who do not propose to remain in the country for 
more than 3 0 days are known officially as “tourists” and as such are exempt¬ 
ed from the normal immigration requirements. The 30-day period may, however, 
be extended to 60 or 90 days. Requests for such extensions of stay should 
preferably be lodged with the National Tourists Board. 
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Every tourist must be in possession of a valid passport duly vise by the 
Costa Rican consul ar the point of departure. Tourists travelling in organized 
groups are exempt from this requirement. 
. Every tourists must have in his possession a return steamer or airplane 
ticket to ensure his eventual departure from Costa Rica. In the abscence of a 
return ticket, a deposit of the same value may be required. 
In certain instances a tourist may be required to lodge his passport with 
the authorities at the port of entry. A receipt is given and on leaving the 
country the passport will be returned to the tourist in exchange for the receipt. 
Tourists who enter Costa Rica as members of an organized group tra¬ 
velling without passports should make sure that they receive from the purser 
of the ship on which they are travelling identity card so that in case of 
any difficulty they will be able to prove the legality of their presence in the 
country. 
Passengers on steamers calling at Costa Rican ports may enter the country 
freely and without restriction provided they are continuing their journey on 
the same ship. In such cases the identity card mentioned in the previous para¬ 
graph must be obtained from the purser prior to landing. 
Tourists may not engage in any remunerative occupation or business while 
in Costa Rica. Authors and artists are naturally not included in this prohibition. 
Commercial travellers who enter the country as tourists may engage in their 
lawful business subject to the special regulations governing such cases. 
Steamship companies which bring tourists to Costa Rica will be held 
responsible that all such tourists leave the country within the prescribed period. 
Tourists who desire to remain in Costa Rica permanently or of a longer 
period than three months should consult the National Tourist Board which will 
be glad to assist them in obtaining official permission to qualify as permanent 
residents. 
CUSTOMS LAWS AND REGULATIONS WHICH MIGHT 
AFFECT PASSENGERS INTO COSTA RICA 
Article 1.—Every passenger who arrives at any of the ports of the Re¬ 
public may land with his baggage, as soon as the Port physician has discharged 
his official duties; in case landing is made at night, or ifter the Custom House 
has doted for the day, be will be permitted to take ashore some of his per¬ 
sonal effects, until he can claim his baggage from the Customs. 
Article 2.—No tax or Customs duties will be collected upon, and the 
following articles will be classified als baggage: 
a) The necessary articles for the trip, such as clothing, jewelry and per¬ 
sonal effects, toilet articles and medicines which may be in use by the traveller 
and which cannot be sold commercially. 
b) Bedclothing and tablecloths, etc., already in use, including mattressses 
and pillows. 
c) Up to half a kilogramme of smoking tobacco for each adult person. 
d) Printed books and manuscripts already in use. 
e) Caimera or moving picture camera, portable type, with six films. 
f) Portable typewriter or portable adding machine already in use. 
g) Second-hand sporting articles, baby-carriage and toys belonging to pas¬ 
senger’s children. 
h) Tools and instruments in use, brought in by the owner who uses them 
in his trade or profession. 
i) A second-hand music instrument, excepting piano, organ or harmonium. 
j) Binoculars. 
Baggage handling at ports is performed by licensed porters who will take 
charge of a passenger’s baggage at the ship, see it through the customs and put it 
on the train, and vice versa. Passengers should not contract the handling of 
their baggage with persons who do not display the official porter badge (FA- 
QUIN) . Passengers are advised to consult the official tariff beforehand and 
so obviate difficulties which might arise later as a result of minsunderstanding 
about price. 
Tourists entering Costa Rica in an organized travel group with the in¬ 
tention of remaining only one night in the country, are exempt from customs 
inspection. Such tourists may introduce small handbags but not trunks. The 
customs officers reserve the right to inspect all such handbags at their discretion 
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