Get to know Costa Rica…

The Country and its People

It’s a small country, but rich for the level of education, learning ability and specialization of its people. Its natural richness consists in its fauna, flora, rivers, beaches in both oceans, its land and climate that allow for production all year around.

There are no political or social worries that may make the country unstable. The army of this country is made up of its teachers, and its numerous working class, from a blue-collar worker to a bio-technician, all living together in peace. The Costa Rican people are characterized by its legendary cordiality and friendly nature. A great majority of its population is descendant from Spanish Colonizers and Europeans. Its official language is Spanish, but a growing percentage of the population speaks English.

For these reasons, the exportations have constantly grown for more than twelve years, acquiring a first place in Latin America. Costa Rican and foreign investments have forged this development.

Costa Rica produces from the most tasteful and fancy coffee to ostrich meat and beautiful butterflies that enlight the European spirit. This country develops from software programs to plantations of pejibaye hearts of palm that are now being implemented in other nations.

Costa Rica, with an extension of 28,000 square miles, is home for 4, 500,000 people with a heart full of hospitality who invite you to know their country.


History

Costa Rica was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, on his fourth voyage to the Americas. His fleet set anchor near Cariari, an island near what is now known as Limon in the Caribbean coast. Impressed by the exuberant vegetation, and the abundance in jewelry and gold ornaments worn by the natives, Columbus baptized this land Costa Rica (Rich Coast).

In 1989, Costa Rica celebrated the 100th anniversary of democracy. In 1948 the army was abolished with an amendment of the constitution promoted by Jose Figueres Ferrer. Costa Rica is still a country without an army. The Central Army Headquarters were transformed into the National Museum. This country has been nominated 12 times for the Noble Peace Prize. In 1989, the then current president Oscar Arias Sánchez received this prestigious award for his efforts in the negotiations to stop the civil war in other Central American countries.


Political Distribution

Costa Rica’s territory is admistratively divided into seven provinces: San José, the capital, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Guanacaste, Puntarenas, and Limón.


Geographical Location

It limits to the North with Nicaragua, to the South with Panama, to the East with the Atlantic Ocean, and to the South with the Pacific Ocean. Its Atlantic coast is 180 miles long, and the Pacific coast is more than 600 miles long. Both coasts enjoy abundant first class beaches and exuberant vegetation.


Climate

Costa Rica has spring-like weather all year around. The average temperature is 72 F (22 C) in the Central Valley. The temperatures in the coasts and beaches is between 70 to 90 F (21- 32 C)

In this country there are more than 12 life zones according to the Holdrieschl scale because of an abundance of microclimate. This abundance of microclimates has provoked at the same time a richness of fauna and flora making them into one the richest in the planet. Because of its greenery and climate, this is a country of the everlasting spring.

The climates according to the height range are the following:

From 0 to 2400 ft: Tropical

From 2401 to 4500 ft: Summer

From 45001 to 8000 ft: Spring

From 8001 and up: Autumn

Juicy Properties offers its touristic projects in Guanacaste, a tranquil land located to the North of Costa Rica, with great opportunities for investment, lots of enjoyment near the ocean, and all the security your family demands.

Get to know Guanacaste…

While traveling through Guanacaste, most assuredly, one thing that will stay with you is the sun. It’s almost as if the sun were closer to you here. It bathes everything with its hue, and gilds the surrounding landscape. Great expanses of golden grasses sway elegantly in the wind while stunted, gnarled Guanacaste trees dot the low hills. The landscape is both dramatic and memorable for any visitor traversing this, the largest region of Costa Rica.

The Guanacaste region is boarded by two mountain ranges. The Cordillera de Tilaran and the Cordillera de Guanacaste provide splendid, craggy backdrops to some of the country’s most beautiful countryside.

The province of Guanacaste covers most of Nicoya Peninsula on Costa Rica’s Northwest.

It has over 200 miles of coastline, with more that 70 different beaches, several of Costa Rica’s famous national parks, spectacular lakes an volcanoes, and great fishing and diving spots.

Regular and chartered flights serve Guanacaste’s International Airport in Liberia from gateways in the U.S.A. and Canada.

Guanacaste´s Facts
Size	6338 square miles
Population	220,000 inhabitants
Coordinates	10º, 28',29" north and 85º, 21', 37" west
Borders	North: Nicaragua; East: Alajuela; West: Pacific Ocean
Capital	Liberia
Distance	129 miles from Liberia to San José
Annextion	1825
Canton No. 3	Santa Cruz. Considered the home of much of Costa Rica's folklore.
Distance	289 kms from Santa Cruz to San José
Size	1 312.27 km2
Habitants1999	42,929
Founded	No. 167, 7/12/1848

History

This region was discovered by the Spaniards a year before Nicoya in 1522 by Gil Gonzalez Davila. By 1760 the first Spaniards settled near what is today known as Lagunilla. When the daughter of one of the first settlers, Bernabela Ramos, married, she placed a wooden cross on her house in Delicias, west of the river Diriá. In honor of that cross every year, a rosary prayer was offered. Soon it became a tradition and eventually, the name of the town was changed from Delicias to Santa Cruz (Holy Cross).


Economy

Agricultural products consist primarily of corn, beans, tubers, fruit trees, sugar cane, coffee and cattle.


Hydrography and Climate

The canton is drained by the rivers Diria and Enmedio which along with the Cañas River make up the Bolson River that divides Santa Cruz from Carrillo Canton. The climate is very warm with temperatures above 28 degrees C.


Nature

Over one third of all National Parks and wildlife reserves existing in Costa Rica are in Guanacaste, including turtle nesting sites, refuges for migrating birds, spectacular caves and the largest protected tropical dry forest in the world.

Most people who haven’t been to the tropics are amazed at this region’s lush vegetation. Green in Costa Rica isn’t the green that’s found in Northern forests. The intensity of the color green is apparent even as one is flying over Costa Rica in an airplane.

Costa Rica’s flora and fauna is protected by a large system of national parks, which makes up for at least 20% of the country’s area. Thanks to these extensive protected areas, Costa Rica boasts more than 9,000 species of “higher plants”, and at least 800 species of ferns and more than 850 bird species -10% of all known in USA and Canada.

There are 5,000 different species of grasshopers, 160 known amphibians, 220 reptiles, and 10% of all known butterflies. This great quantity of species is because this region served as a "filter bridge" for the intermingling of species and the evolution of modern distinctive Costa Rican biota, a fairly recent amalgam as the isthmus has been in existence for only some three million years. This together with generous infusions of plants and animals from both continents has resulted in a proliferation of species that in many respects is vastly richer than the biota of either North or South America. But Costa Rica’s biota shares much with both.


Interesting Sites

The town of Santa Cruz was declared the ¨Folklore City” by the Central American institute of tourism. The canton has charming folklore attracting many tourists and has more special tourist areas than any other canton area in the province. Part of the Guacamaya tourist center is here as well as splendid beaches of Potrero, Conchal, Brasilito, Nombre de Jesus, Grande, Tamarindo, Langosta, Avellana, Junquillal, Manzanillo, Veracruz, Ostional, Nosara, and others. The Ostional National Wildlife Preserve is also located in Santa Cruz.