Polity · 1840 CE – present
Republic of Costa Rica
República de Costa Rica · Costa Rica · República de Costa Rica
Also recorded as Costa Rica
- Peak recorded area
- 55,945 km²
- 1840 CE
- Rulers on record
- 7
- from 1998 CE
- Data series
- 380
- 1840 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, sharing a maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
2 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 1 further extent, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 57 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population269 obs · 1820 CE–2025 CE | 5.2Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 81.19years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 1,000persons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 0.435% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 83.72years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 78.6years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 162 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP220 obs · 1800 CE–2019 CE | 15Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP Current Usd112 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 102.9Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| GDP per capita103 obs · 1920 CE–2022 CE | 15.5K2011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Total Exports95 obs · 1920 CE–2014 CE | 30Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports95 obs · 1920 CE–2014 CE | 16.1Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance95 obs · 1920 CE–2014 CE | 13.9Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 15 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 0.0003CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 2.1Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 0tons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure94 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 413Mcurrent USD2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel91 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 0persons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure Constant Usd75 obs · 1950 CE–2024 CE | 0millions_usd_20232024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
Territory & resources
6 of 62 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 3.27% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 60.4% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 33.14%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land per capita Ha63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.0327hectares per person2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 1.7Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Arable Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 167.1Kha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 26 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index187 obs · 1838 CE–2024 CE | 0.859index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index187 obs · 1838 CE–2024 CE | 0.805index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index187 obs · 1838 CE–2024 CE | 0.604index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index187 obs · 1838 CE–2024 CE | 0.936index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity2175 obs · 1838 CE–2012 CE | 10index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 3RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 58 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index187 obs · 1838 CE–2024 CE | 0.914index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Radios130 obs · 1838 CE–1999 CE | 1,043count1999 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Line Km115 obs · 1873 CE–1993 CE | 442km1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Newspaper Circulation54 obs · 1946 CE–1999 CE | 318.9Kcirculation1999 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Passenger Cars54 obs · 1928 CE–1996 CE | 277.9Kcount1996 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Mobile Subscriptions Per 10052 obs · 1960 CE–2023 CE | 145.79per_1002023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Rulers
7 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Miguel Ángel Rodríguez EcheverríaPresident1998 CE – 2002 CE
- Abel PachecoPresident2002 CE – 2006 CE
- Óscar Arias SánchezPresident2006 CE – 2010 CE
- Laura ChinchillaPresident2010 CE – 2014 CE
- Luis Guillermo SolísPresident2014 CE – 2018 CE
- Carlos Alvarado QuesadaHead of State2018 CE – 2022 CE
- Rodrigo ChavesPresident2022 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama
- Government type
- presidential republic
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Rodrigo CHAVES Robles (since 8 May 2022); head of government: President Rodrigo CHAVES Robles (since 8 May 2022); cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president;
- Ethnic groups
- White or Mestizo 83.6%, Mulatto 6.7%, Indigenous 2.4%, Black or African descent 1.1%, other 1.1%, none 2.9%, unspecified 2.2% (2011 est.)
- Natural resources
- hydropower
- Economy
- trade-based upper middle-income economy; green economy leader, having reversed deforestation; investing in blue economy infrastructure; declining poverty until hard impacts of COVID-19; lingering inequality and growing government debts have prompted a liquidity crisis
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- Costa Rican colones (CRC)
Memberships
- 5-member Non-Aggression Pact (1907)Historical alliance · member1907 CE – 1918 CE
- 5-member Non-Aggression Pact (1923)Historical alliance · member1923 CE – 1932 CE
- 21-member Entente (1936)Historical alliance · member1936 CE – 1945 CE
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · founding member1945 CE –
- 20-member Defense Pact (1945)Military alliance · member1945 CE – 1947 CE
- 35-member Defense Pact (1947)Military alliance · member1947 CE –
- 6-member Defense Pact (1963)Military alliance · member1963 CE – 1969 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database2024
SIPRI (2024). Military Expenditure Database.
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Republic of Costa Rica is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.