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People: According to international standards, the majority of Costa Ricans are poor, but they do not let it show at all. There are none of the shanty towns that dominate the landscape in other developing countries. Most of the people on the street in the towns and cities are well dressed and you do not see homeless people everywhere you go. Politics: Costa Ricans are politically moderate, reserved and non-aggressive. Oscar Arias has been President since 2006. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. He also became President of Costa Rica in that year. The President can only remain in office for 4 years and a former President cannot normally become President again. Nature: 27% (situation in 2005) of the whole area of Costa Rica, whether owned by the state or privately owned, is under some form of conservation. Between about 500,000
and 1 million different types of plant and animal, 50,000 types
of insect, 2000 varieties of orchid, 208 sorts of mammals, 850
types of bird and many thousand different types of moths and
butterflies: 5% of all the types of plants and animals on the
planet occur here, in an area that is less than 3/1000 of the
Earth’s surface. |
