FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT COSTA RICA

By Alejandro Guevara Onofre

SUMMARY: Costa Rica a small country in Central America. Different from Cuba and Venezuela, Costa Rica is a democratic country in Latin America... Costa Rica now ranks 48th of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index... Costa Rica is one of the world's exotic countries. It is famous for its ecology and beaches.

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: Óscar Arias Sánchez (president of Costa Rica), Sylvia Poll Arenhs (sportswoman), Claudia Poll Arenhs (sportswoman) and Franklin Chang Díaz (astronaut).

DID YOU KNOW THAT… In July 1975, María Milagro París 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, María Milagro París was the best athlete of Costa Rica.

DID YOU KNOW THAT… Franklin Ramón Díaz 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 Óscar Rafael de Jesús Arias Sánchez, 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), Óscar Arias Sánchez is a symbol of democracy in the world.

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

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

DID YOU KNOW THAT… Maribel Fernández Guardia, best known as “La bella” (the beautiful), is an actress from Costa Rica. She was one of the Latin America´s 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 Fernández 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 Nations´s Human Development Index. Indices of the high standard of public health in Costa Rica include one of the world´s 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 José María 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 America´s best beaches, with clean white sand and many types of water sports. For water sports lovers, there´s 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 Rica´s 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 Chávez, 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… José María Figueres Olsen was the only president´s son also to be elected president? His father was José María 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.