Fascinating Facts About Costa Rica

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica is beloved by tourists for its national parks, beautiful beaches, traditions, friendly people and perfect climate.

DID YOU KNOW THAT The Costa Rican democracy is considered to be the oldest still in existence in the Third World.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica has four idols: scar Arias Snchez (president of Costa Rica), Sylvia Poll Arenhs (sportswoman), Claudia Poll Arenhs (sportswoman) and Franklin Chang Daz (astronaut).

DID YOU KNOW THAT In July 1975, Mara Milagro Pars became the first Latin American woman to classify in the finals at the FINA World Championship, where she ended fifth in the 100-meter butterfly style competition in Cali, Colombia.In the 1970s, Mara Milagro Pars was the best athlete of Costa Rica.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Franklin Ramn Daz Chang was the first Costa Rican-American to travel in space.He was born on April 5, 1950, in San Jose, Costa Rica. After successfully completing an intense year of testing and training, he was ready for his first space mission, which took place in 1986 aboard the space shuttle Columbia.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Pope John Paul II visited San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, in 1983.

DID YOU KNOW THAT In 1987 scar Rafael de Jess Arias Snchez, who is currently president of Costa Rica, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting peace in Central America. He was born on September 13, 1940, in Heredia, Costa Rica.Like Vaclav Havel (Czech Republic), Aung San Sui Kyi (Myanmar), Nelson Mandela (South Africa) and Jimmy Carter (United States), scar Arias Snchez is a symbol of democracy in the world.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica has had spectacular beauties in the past centuy: Martha Escalante Fernndez (semi-finalist at the Miss World 1965), Ana Lorena Gonzlez (semi-finalist at the Miss World 1986), Marlene Chvez Mata (Miss International 1980), Gidget Sandoval (Miss International 1983), Giannina Facio Franco (former model) and Maribel Fernndez Guardia (actress).

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica has one of the richest ecosystems in the world. It contains 5 percent of the worlds biodiversity.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Maribel Fernndez Guardia, best known as La bella (the beautiful), is an actress from Costa Rica. She was one of the Latin Americas most famous actresses in the 1980s and early 1990s. Before she became a famous actress in Mexican film industry, she had been Miss Costa Rica 1978 and Miss Photogenic-Universe 1978, an experienced which she says helped prepare her for acting. Maribel Fernndez Guardia appeared on the covers of many magazines in the 1970s and 1980s.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica now ranks 48th of 177 countries in the United Nationss Human Development Index. Indices of the high standard of public health in Costa Rica include one of the worlds highest levels of life expectancy (77 years).

DID YOU KNOW THAT When Spanish navigators first came up Costa Rica in 1502, struck by tremendous beauty of its green mountains they exclaimed Costa Rica.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Like South Africa, South Korea and Barbados, Costa Rica has one of the best democracies in the Third World. For this reason, Costa Rica is called the Switzerland of the Americas. In 1953, under the leadership of president Jos Mara Figueres Ferrer, political reform was accelerated. His insight brought about recovery of Costa Rica, establishing on Costa Rica a free and democratic society. Certainly, he had created a perfect democracy on Costa Rica for the world to see.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the country.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica has some of Latin Americas best beaches, with clean white sand and many types of water sports. For water sports lovers, theres windsurfing, scuba diving, kayak, swimming, and sailing.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica is bigger than Denmark or Taiwan.

DID YOU KNOW THAT The Chiripo National Park is great place for relaxing. It is a dramatic national park, where visitors can you see many orchids, birds, and animals.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Giannina Facio Franco was a Costa Rican supermodel and actress. She was born on September 10, 1955, in San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica. She was one of the most beautiful Latin American women in the 1980s.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Ricas bird life is profuse and contains some exceptionally exotic and colourful species, such as the quetzal, one of the most beautiful birds in the world.

DID YOU KNOW THAT The Costa Ricans are one of the most homogeneous peoples in the world.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Lorena Marlene Chvez, Miss Costa Rica, was elected Miss International 1980 in Tokyo, Japan. Her title was celebrated by Costa Ricans. She became the first central American to win an international beauty contest.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Costa Rica was the first country in the world to promote ecological tourism in an accelerated form.

DID YOU KNOW THAT Jos Mara Figueres Olsen was the only presidents son also to be elected president? His father was Jos Mara Figueres Ferrer, who was president of Costa Rica (1953-1958).

DID YOU KNOW THAT Gidget Sandoval, Miss Costa Rica,was crowned Miss International 1983. She became the second woman from Costa Rica and the fourth Latin American to win the Miss International title.

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer. Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry. Hes studied political science and journalism. He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, Olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called "The Dictator and Alicia Alonso". He is an expert on foreign affairs. Furthermore, Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latina America.

He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). His favorite film is "Gorillas in the Mist". Some of his favorite books are The Return of Eva Peron and the Killings in Trinidad (by V.S.Naipaul), "Las Mujeres de los Dictadores" (by Juan Gasparini) and Murder of a Gentle Land (by John Barron and Anthony Paul). His personal motto is "The future is for those people who believe in the beauty o f their dreams" by Eleanor Roosevelt.