Costa Rica Benefits
- Politically stable. Praised as the "Switzerland of Latin America"
- Dissolved its army in 1948 and spends money instead on education and health care.
- Literacy rate equal to U.S.
- Respectable national health care system (overall ranks higher than the US in overall health care in the world; two world-class hospitals with U.S. trained, English-speaking doctors, whose service cost about 60% of what they would in the U.S.).
- Relatively prosperous nation – highest per capita income in Central America.
- Year round average temperature averages 83 degrees on the Pacific coast.
- Protected beaches so you won't find developments right on the water.
- Affordable living.
- Low hurricane risk since it is located north of the equator.
- Far lower violent crime than U.S.
- Cell phone and internet service.
- Contains 5% of the world's biodiversity in only 0.1% of the world's land mass.
- Environmentally focused…Costa Rica has planned to be the first country in the world to be carbon-neutral.
- Over 25% of Costa Rica is composed of protected forests and reserves.
- Wildlife galore…Costa Rica ranks #1 in the world for the number of species (615) per 10,000 square kilometers.
Ecotourism
Ecotourism draws many tourists to visit the extensive national parks and protected areas around the country. Costa Rica was a pioneer in this type of tourism, and the country is recognized as one of the few with true ecotourism. In terms of the 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Costa Rica ranked 44th in the world and second among Latin American countries after Mexico.
Since 1996, the Forest Law was enacted to provide direct financial incentives to landowners for the provision of environmental services.