Costa Rica
Costa Rica is located in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
It was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army in 1948, it has no military forces and is one of the most consolidated democracies in Latin America.
It has an area of 51,100 km² and a population of 4.500.000 habitants in seven provinces, and its political and economic center is the city of San José, the capital, with 1.350.000 habitants.
Costa Rica has suffered a significant evolution in its economy was transformed from an agricultural economy to a service economy.
The country has a high standard of living, especially when is compared to other nearby countries.
It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the 22 oldest democracies in the world.
Costa Rica ranks third worldwide in the classification of the Environmental Performance Index 2009.
Among Latin American countries, Costa Rica occupies first place in the classification of tourism competitiveness index.
It ranks third in Latin America following the index of quality of life and the second in terms of Global Competitiveness Index. According to the World Bank Development, Costa Rica is the fourth largest exporter of technology worldwide.
CNN proclaimed Costa Rica the happiest place on earth in July of 2009. Please see their report at: cnn news.
That was confirmed by a report published in the UK by the BBC in January of 2010, they said: "Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the new world (second to Canada)".
The study was conducted by The New Economics Foundation.
