Unit 11

It’s a very exciting country!Costa Rica : 

It’s a very exciting country!Costa Rica Viviana borjas C.I 18.256.282

COSTA RICA : 

COSTA RICA Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica , is a Republic in Central America, Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army. Among Latin American countries, Costa Rica ranks 4th in terms of the 2007 Human Development Index, and 48th worldwide. Costa Rica is ranked 5th in the world in terms of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, up from the 15th place in 2006. In 2007 the government of Costa Rica stated that they want to be the first country to become carbon neutral by 2021.

Geography of Costa Rica : 

Geography of Costa Rica Costa Rica is located on the Central American, 10° North of the equator and 84° West of the Prime Meridian. It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 kilometers (802 mi) of coastline (212 km / 132 mi on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km / 631 mi on the Pacific). Two of the country's most renowned rivers in that regard are the Rio Pacuare and the Rio Reventazon located near the city of Turrialba about two hours east of San Jose. Other notable whitewater areas are the Sarapiqui Valley area, several Pacific coast rivers near Quepos, and the southern Pacific drainage area around San Isidro de General.

Tourism : 

Tourism Tourism in Costa Rica is one of the fastest growing economic sectors of the country and by 1995 became the largest foreign exchange earner. Since 1999, tourism earns more foreign exchange than bananas, pineapples and coffee combined. The tourism boom began in 1987, with the number of visitors up from 329,000 in 1988, through 1 million in 1999, to 1.9 million foreign visitors in 2007, allowing the country to earn $1.9-billion in that year. Since the late 1980s Costa Rica became a popular nature travel destination, and its main competitive advantage is its well-established system of national parks and protected areas, covering around 23,4% of the country's land area, the largest in the world as a percentage of the country's territory, and home to a rich variety of flora and fauna, in a country that has only 0.03% of the world's landmass, but that is estimated to contain 5% of the world's biodiversity.The country also has plenty of beaches, both in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, within short travel distances, and also several volcanoes that can be visited with safety. By the early 1990s, Costa Rica became to be known as the poster child of ecotourism, with tourist arrivals reaching an average annual growth rate of 14% between 1986 to 1994.

Archipelago Los Roques : 

Archipelago Los Roques

Los Roques : 

Los Roques Few places on the planet can offer human eyes such an extraordinary and singular beauty as that of Archipelago Los Roques National Park.An air view allows us to enjoy the varied range of blue tonalities of its crystal clear waters, only altered by the white sands and the deep green of the mangrove swamps which are present in the keys. Under the water the contrast of white sand with the green of the marine herbs and the various colors and shapes of the coral reef can be easily seen. Los Roques is describes quite well with this singular setting pointing out that: The factor which gives Los Roques its characteristic seal is the brightness. The second one is the clarity of the blending of colors: the intense and pure blue of its deep waters; the blinding white of sand beaches; the intense green of mangrove swamps. There are no mild or stumped transitions. Over the sandy bottom the crystal clear transparency of the water is very bright, over the vegetable prairies it is opaque, dark.The existence of numerous keys provides a variety of marine settings which go from sand beaches, rock beaches with strong surf, bays with still water, coastal reef or barrier, mangrove swamp areas, lagoons and salt mines, among others. There is no doubt that the marine setting of Los Roques is one of the most beautiful and special of the Caribbean and of the world and that its coral reefs are among the best preserved. The archipelago is protected by two reef barriers: One that goes from north to south by some 24 kilometers and protects the archipelago from eastern currents and a second barrier that runs some 32 kilometers from east to west. Los Roques is similar in size to that of the complete Virgin Islands.

Geography of Los Roques : 

Geography of Los Roques The average depth of the Archipelago is between 8 to 10 meters, with a maximum of 50 meters. Similar to La Orchila and the Las Aves Archipelago, Los Roques is separated from the continental platform by channels which are over 1.000 meters deep and only 2 or 3 kilometers away from the archipelago. The majority of the keys are rather small in area. Cayo Grande 15.1 square km. is the largest in area and Visqui or Pulguita with 0.001square km. are among the smallest. Many of the smaller keys are in a state of formation and they are seen as sand banks lacking in vegetation, this is why they are considered sand banks. Other keys are widely covered by mangrove and inside lagoons such as Espenqui and many of them have extensive beaches of white sand on the leeward side (contrary to the wind) like for example Carenero or Cayo Agua.The waters which surround the archipelago are very clear and lacking in nutrients; the different shades of blue is due to the type of bottom where they are at. The transparency of the water is due to two fundamental reasons: the first one is the distance between the mainland and the archipelago which prevents it from being affected by the sediment flows of rivers, which provide to great amount of silt and organic responsible for the darker shades of water around the Terra Firme coast line of Venezuela. The second reason is the waters of the archipelago have low productivity and a low level of nutrients, in contrast with the waters of the Venezuelan east where the organic matter deposited in the bottom of the sea gets mixed with the water in the surface making it thus much more rich and productive, but at the sane time colder and not as clear. The “poverty“ of the waters of Los Roques contrasts sharply with large extensions of coral reef, considered the communities of greater biodiversity on the globe.

Climate : 

Climate The dry climate of Los Roques is a result of the influence of trade winds which blow from east to northeast and frequently from east to southeast, with an annual speed of 21,8 km/hr minimum of 19km/hr in November and a maximum of 25.2 km/hr in June with maximum rates of up to 47 km/hr. The relative humidity is 83% annual and rain takes place in the form of brief showers with an average of 256.6 millimeters; minimum 6,6 millimeters in April and a maximum of 52,2mm. in November. The average annual temperature is 27,7°C with a minimum of 26,2°C in June / January and a maximum of 28,2 ° in September. Winds east – west are predominant; average visibility is approximately 21 kilometers. Water temperatures are between 25 and 30° C with minimum records between January and February and maximum between June and October. Heatstroke is very high and the yearly average is 8,6 hours/day. Together with a steady and intense breeze and the high temperature (27°C) gives way to an intense evaporation.

Nature and places of interest in the Natural Park of Los Roques. : 

Nature and places of interest in the Natural Park of Los Roques. There is no doubt that the marine and land setting of Los Roques is one of the most beautiful, best preserved and special of the Caribbean and of the world. Approximately 50 keys make up the archipelago Los Roques national park, each one different even though they share general characteristics with the archipelagos beaches of very white sand surrounded by a sea of different hues, from turquoise green to deep blue, and the typical prairie vegetation where the brown tones are predominant as well as the intense green of the mangrove. One of the biggest attractions for the visitors is to get to know the different keys that make up the archipelago. There are small keys which lack vegetation; they are simply sand dunes on the sea, where for a few hours one can feel like shipwrecked abandoned in the middle of the sea (Cayo Muerto is one of those islands). On the other islands you may enjoy deserted beaches surrounded by leafy mangroves (Cayo Remanso) or take advantage of the many tourist services in the most visited keys. Maybe this is what makes these islands so special; the possibility of choosing the most attractive of your choice everyday.A great number of keys can be visited; the most approachable are located in the Recreation area, where there are less limitations for the performing of activities, by requesting a permit form Inparques - The National Parks Institute – (the granting of these permits depends on the number of applications made during that day for that particular location) one can visit further areas which are classified as Zona Primitiva Marina (Primitive marine areas). Only those areas classified as Proteccion Integral (Completely protected) is were access are completely restricted to visitors.

Some pictures of Los Roques : 

Some pictures of Los Roques