Costa Rica geography and climate
This is another post about the Costa Rica countryside - see for all articles in our “Beaches and nature around Zopilote” category. This time we continue the facts we reported yesterday and here (about the weather).
Some of the information we present here can be found also in the CIA Factbook, in Wikipedia and in our beloved and very useful Lonely Planet.
Location and geography of Costa Rica
Costa Rica is one of eight countries in Central America and has borders with Nicaragua (North) and Panama (South). The exact position is 10° North of the equator and 84° West of the Prime Meridian.
The country is splitted in two halfs by a mountain chain, which consists of (some active) volcanos, running from the Nicaraguan border to Panama. The The highest point is Cerro Chirripó (3,810 m). Irazú Volcano is the highest volcano in the country (3,431 m). The largest lake in Costa Rica is Lake Arenal in front of the active Vulcano Arenal.
Coast
Like Panama, Costa Rica offers access to the Caribbean and to the Pacific. The Caribbean coast is 212km long and is much remote than the pacific coast (1016 km coast line); you’ll find mangroves, swamps and sandy beaches on the Carribean side, rocky and sometimes black sanded beaches on the Pacific. There are also several islands around Costa Rica like Cocos Island (500km away from the Pacific coast) with 24 km² or Calero Island with 151.6 km².
Weather
Costa Rica is very close to the equator, which means that the climate is tropical year around. Depending on the altitude and the season, however it can be different. There are two seasons (summer, verano) and winter (invierno). The summer season goes from December to May and is considered the dry season (although rainfall can happen depending on your location). The winter season or rainy season starts in May and lasts to October/November.
Most rain will fall in the northeast of the country (this is the Caribbean coast and the slopes of the Central Cordillera mountains). The Pacific side is not as much humid, but warmer. The temperatures average 30°C (86°F) at the Carribean coast, in the Cordillera (like in San José at 1100 m altitude) 15°C (60°F).
[Technorati Tags: weather - geography - Costa Rica ]