Industries:
microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing,
construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products
Industrial production growth rate:
3.1% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production:
6.614 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 1.5% hydro: 81.9% nuclear: 0% other: 16.6% (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
5.733 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports:
477 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports:
59 million kWh (2002)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
37,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA
Oil - imports:
NA
Current account balance:
$-980.3 million (2004 est.)
Exports:
$6.184 billion (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities:
coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic
components, medical equipment
Exports - partners:
US 46.9%, Netherlands 5.3%, Guatemala 4.4% (2004)
Imports:
$7.842 billion (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum
Imports - partners:
US 46.1%, Japan 5.9%, Mexico 5.1%, Brazil 4.2% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.736 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external:
$5.962 billion (2004 est.)
Currency (code):
Costa Rican colon (CRC)
Currency code:
CRC
Exchange rates:
Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 437.91 (2004), 398.66 (2003),
359.82 (2002), 328.87 (2001), 308.19 (2000)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Costa Rica
Telephones - main lines in use:
1.132 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
528,047 (2002)
Telephone system:
general assessment: good domestic telephone service in terms of
breadth of coverage; restricted cellular telephone service
domestic: point-to-point and point-to-multi-point microwave,
fiber-optic, and coaxial cable link rural areas; Internet service is
available
international: country code - 506; connected to Central American
Microwave System; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic
Ocean); two submarine cables (1999)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 65, FM 51, shortwave 19 (2002)
Radios:
980,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
20 (plus 43 repeaters) (2002)
Televisions:
525,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.cr
Internet hosts:
10,826 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
3 (of which only one is legal) (2000)
Internet users:
800,000 (2002)
Transportation Costa Rica
Railways: total: 278 km narrow gauge: 278 km 1.067-m gauge (2004)
Highways: total: 35,303 km paved: 4,236 km unpaved: 31,067 km (2002)
Waterways:
730 km (seasonally navigable by small craft) (2004)
Pipelines:
refined products 242 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Caldera, Puerto Limon
Merchant marine:
total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,716 GRT/ DWT
by type: passenger/cargo 2 (2005)
Airports:
149 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 30 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 8 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 119 914 to 1,523 m: 24 under 914 m: 95 (2004 est.)
Military Costa Rica
Military branches:
no regular military forces; Ministry of Public Security,
Government, and Police
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 997,690 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 829,874 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 41,097 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$64.2 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.4% (2003)
Transnational Issues Costa Rica
Disputes - international: legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on the border with Nicaragua remains unresolved
Illicit drugs:
transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America;
illicit production of cannabis on small, scattered plots; domestic
cocaine consumption, particularly crack cocaine, is rising
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Cote d'Ivoire
Introduction Cote d'Ivoire
Background:
Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of
cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote
d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the tropical African states,
but did not protect it from political turmoil. On 25 December