This is a country located in Central America and bordered by Nicaragua, the Caribbean Sea, Panama, and the Pacific Ocean, while sharing a maritime border with Ecuador in the south of Cocos Island. With a population of about five million people on a land mass of 51,060 kilometers, approximately 333,980 persons reside in its capital city, San José, and an additional two million residents live in the surrounding metropolitan areas. The sovereign state is a unitary presidential constitutional republic with a stable democracy and skilled workforce. Its economy which was previously dependent on agriculture has now included other sectors like finance, pharmaceuticals, ecotourism, and corporate services for foreign companies. Several foreign manufacturing and services companies in the country’s Free Trade Zones (FTZ) benefit from investment and tax incentives.
About the country
It was inhabited by indigenous people before the Spanish rule and remained a peripheral colony of the empire until it gained its independence, declared in 1847. The nation has done well in the Human Development Index (HDI), ranking 62nd in the world and 5th in Latin America. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it is said to have higher human development than other nations with the same income levels, as well as better records on human development and inequality in the region. This country has the 7th freest press as reported by the Press Freedom Index and is the 37th most democratic country as stated by the Freedom in the World index. According to the World Happiness Report, it is the 12th happiest country in the globe.
Bilateral relations with other countries
Being an active member of the international community, it weighs world affairs far beyond its size. The nation once pushed aggressively for the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights becoming the first country to have the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Human Rights Court located in San José. The foreign affairs of the Republic are functions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship. President Óscar Arias authored a regional plan in 1987 which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement, and he received the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his work. The country also supported the change in the USSR-backed Nicaraguan government of the era. It hosted several meetings of negotiations between the government of Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), helping El Salvador to emerge from the civil war. The republic has been a strong proponent of regional arms-limitation agreements. It recently proposed the abolishment of all Central American militaries and the creation of a regional counternarcotics police force.
Diplomatic relations of the Republic
When democratic governments were elected in the Central American region in the 1990s, the country steered its focus from regional conflicts to neoliberal policies on the isthmus. These policies with the invasion of Panama by the United States aided the drawing of Panama into the Central American model of neoliberalism. This central American nation also took part in the multinational Partnership for Democracy and Development in the region. Even though regional political integration did not prove attractive to the republic, it debated its role in the Central American integration process under the former President. The republic has sought concrete economic ties with neighboring Central American countries instead of establishing regional political institutions. It has also chosen not to be a member of the Central American Parliament.
International memberships
The country is an active part of the United Nations since it was established at the San Francisco Conference in 1945. Its first ambassador to the UN was the Secretary of Governance under President Picado.
