| "> | | | | of 177 countries in the United Nations´s Human |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica is beloved by | | | | Development Index. Indices of the high standard of |
| tourists for its national parks, beautiful beaches, | | | | public health in Costa Rica include one of the |
| traditions, friendly people and perfect climate. | | | | world´s highest levels of life expectancy (77 |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... The Costa Rican | | | | years). |
| democracy is considered to be the oldest still in | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... When Spanish navigators |
| existence in the Third World. | | | | first came up Costa Rica in 1502, struck by |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica has four idols: | | | | tremendous beauty of its green mountains... they |
| Óscar Arias Sánchez (president of | | | | exclaimed "Costa Rica". |
| Costa Rica), Sylvia Poll Arenhs (sportswoman), Claudia | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Like South Africa, South |
| Poll Arenhs (sportswoman) and Franklin Chang | | | | Korea and Barbados, Costa Rica has one of the best |
| Díaz (astronaut). | | | | democracies in the Third World. For this reason, Costa |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... In July 1975, María | | | | Rica is called the "Switzerland of the Americas". |
| Milagro París became the first Latin American | | | | In 1953, under the leadership of president José |
| woman to classify in the finals at the FINA World | | | | María Figueres Ferrer, political reform was |
| Championship, where she ended fifth in the 100-meter | | | | accelerated. His insight brought about recovery of |
| butterfly style competition in Cali, Colombia.In the 1970s, | | | | Costa Rica, establishing on Costa Rica a free and |
| María Milagro París was the best | | | | democratic society. Certainly, he had created a |
| athlete of Costa Rica. | | | | "perfect democracy" on Costa Rica for the world to |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Franklin Ramón | | | | see. |
| Díaz Chang was the first Costa | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Soccer is by far the most |
| Rican-American to travel in space.He was born on | | | | popular sport in the country. |
| April 5, 1950, in San Jose, Costa Rica. After | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica has some of |
| successfully completing an intense year of testing and | | | | Latin America´s best beaches, with clean white |
| training, he was ready for his first space mission, which | | | | sand and many types of water sports. For water |
| took place in 1986 aboard the space shuttle Columbia. | | | | sports lovers, there´s windsurfing, scuba diving, |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Pope John Paul II visited San | | | | kayak, swimming, and sailing. |
| Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, in 1983. | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica is bigger than |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... In 1987 Óscar Rafael | | | | Denmark or Taiwan. |
| de Jesús Arias Sánchez, who is | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... The Chiripo National Park is |
| currently president of Costa Rica, was awarded the | | | | great place for relaxing. It is a dramatic national park, |
| Nobel Peace Prize for promoting peace in Central | | | | where visitors can you see many orchids, birds, and |
| America. He was born on September 13, 1940, in | | | | animals. |
| Heredia, Costa Rica.Like Vaclav Havel (Czech | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Giannina Facio Franco was |
| Republic), Aung San Sui Kyi (Myanmar), Nelson | | | | a Costa Rican supermodel and actress. She was born |
| Mandela (South Africa) and Jimmy Carter (United | | | | on September 10, 1955, in San Jose, the capital city of |
| States), Óscar Arias Sánchez is a | | | | Costa Rica. She was one of the most beautiful Latin |
| symbol of democracy in the world. | | | | American women in the 1980s. |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica has had | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica´s bird life |
| spectacular beauties in the past centuy: Martha | | | | is profuse and contains some exceptionally exotic and |
| Escalante Fernández (semi-finalist at the Miss | | | | colourful species, such as the quetzal, one of the most |
| World 1965), Ana Lorena González | | | | beautiful birds in the world. |
| (semi-finalist at the Miss World 1986), Marlene | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... The Costa Ricans are one |
| Chávez Mata (Miss International 1980), Gidget | | | | of the most homogeneous peoples in the world. |
| Sandoval (Miss International 1983), Giannina Facio | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Lorena Marlene |
| Franco (former model) and Maribel Fernández | | | | Chávez, Miss Costa Rica, was elected Miss |
| Guardia (actress). | | | | International 1980 in Tokyo, Japan. Her title was |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica has one of the | | | | celebrated by Costa Ricans. She became the first |
| richest ecosystems in the world. It contains 5 percent | | | | central American to win an international beauty |
| of the world´s biodiversity. | | | | contest. |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Maribel Fernández | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica was the first |
| Guardia, best known as "La bella" (the beautiful), is an | | | | country in the world to promote ecological tourism in |
| actress from Costa Rica. She was one of the Latin | | | | an accelerated form. |
| America´s most famous actresses in the 1980s | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... José María |
| and early 1990s. Before she became a famous | | | | Figueres Olsen was the only president´s son |
| actress in Mexican film industry, she had been Miss | | | | also to be elected president? His father was |
| Costa Rica 1978 and Miss Photogenic-Universe 1978, | | | | José María Figueres Ferrer, who was |
| an experienced which she says helped prepare her | | | | president of Costa Rica (1953-1958). |
| for acting. Maribel Fernández Guardia | | | | DID YOU KNOW THAT... Gidget Sandoval, Miss Costa |
| appeared on the covers of many magazines in the | | | | Rica,was crowned Miss International 1983. She |
| 1970s and 1980s. | | | | became the second woman from Costa Rica and the |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT... Costa Rica now ranks 48th | | | | fourth Latin American to win the Miss International title. |