This article will answer your question if is Costa Rica in Central America and will tell you the most important and interesting things you need to know about its climate, flora and fauna.

Now let’s start with the beginning and discover together where Costa Rica is located and which are its neighbours.

Where is Costa Rica located at

The Republic of Costa Rica as this small country is officially named is located in Central America and has the following neighbours: Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the southwest, while the Pacific Ocean is located at the western and southern parts and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

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Central America is a region of the Americas that is bordered by Mexico to the north and Colombia to the southeast, while the rest of the region is neighbouring with the Caribbean Sea and Pacific coast.

Is Costa Rica in Central America

The Central America region consists of the following 7 countries: Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala, Panama located right on the Isthmus of Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

A common fact for all these 7 Central American countries is that they had been inhabited by the indigenous people of Mesoamerica during the pre-Columbian era.

The people who lived in this part of the world, including the Costa Ricans, spoke the Chibchan languages at the moment when the Europeans discovered them.

Today each country speaks Spanish, English, Mayan languages, Garifuna, Kriol and some other languages with origins of Mesoamerica.

The official languages of Costa Rica are Spanish, Mekatelyu, Bribri and Patois while most of the inhabitants are roman catholic.

The total surface of the country is just 19.750 square miles and it has 280 square miles of territorial waters and San José is the capital city and the largest city of the country.

Where is Costa Rica located at and its geography

If we are talking about latitude and longitude, then Costa Rica can be found at the Tropics right between 8 and 11 degrees north of the equator.

Costa Rica’s climate

Now you know if it is Costa Rica in Central America, so it’s time to find out how the weather is during the year in this country.

Costa Rica’s climate is tropical all year round but it has several microclimates dictated by the altitude, rainfall and geography of each region.

A characteristic for this part of the world is that there are only two seasons, the dry one and the rainy season instead of the four seasons from the Northern hemisphere.

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The dry season is also known as the summer, while the rainy season is called by people winter.

The summer season lasts from December to April and is characterised by hot and sunny days with no rain and the winter season lasts from May to November and most of the days are rainy and wet.

Temperatures in Costa Rica

The temperature all over the year does not vary a lot from one season to another, but it varies from one region to another.

The average temperatures around the year in Costa Rica are from 12 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees Celsius ( 70° F to 81° F).

The hottest months of the year are considered to be February, March and April while the period between September to November is the coldest one.

Rainfalls in Costa Rica

The rainiest months of the year are September and October, while the period between December to April has almost zero days with rain.

The Caribbean coast from the country has its own microclimate characterised by many sunny and hot days and a very shi rain season.

The amount of rain and the rainy season varies depending on where is Costa Rica located at and that is why we have a rainy season:

• from June to September in the Monteverde area,
• from December to April in the Mountain ranges of Arena Volcano and Northern lowlands
• from May to November in the rest of the country.

Fauna of Costa Rica

A large part of the country, more precisely about one-third of it is covered by mahogany and tropical cedar forests, oaks and different species of grasses and plants.

The country is home to more than 9.000 species of flowering plants and more than 810 species of ferns protected under national parks and protected areas.

The rainforest from this country is a very rapid ecosystem where competition for sun among plants is very drastic.

Only in this latin american country, in these beautiful rainforests trees can grow up to 30 metres (100 feet) tall and can absorb more than 85% of the forest’s light and water.

Here, in this part of the country, each species of plants adapt to survive: trees for example grow higher, while bromeliads developed a very interesting system of retaining water.

On the opposite side, there is the dry forest of Costa Rica, which might not be that full of plants but definitely is extremely beautiful.

Here, the trees are not that tall but are more robust and are designed to resist during the dry season, from November to April.

Besides the rainforest and the dry one, Costa Rica is also home to many mangrove swamps that can be found in the area between the ocean and the land.

The land where is Costa Rica located is home to a large variety of flora, some of them being considered endangered species but I am equally sure that this place hides a large number of plants about which we don’t know they exist.

Flora of Costa Rica

Now that you know if is Costa Rica in Central America let’s discover some interesting facts and figures about its flora.

Costa Rica is home to more than 210 species of mammals, 845 species of birds, 200 species of amphibians and more than 230 types of reptiles.

As for insects, the biologists counted more than 305.000 different species that are spread all over the country.

This large variety of species of plants and animals is due to the country’s location between the South and North American continents, its unique climate and diverse landforms.

Nature lovers come to Costa Rica to admire its sceneries and fauna and flora and usually go to places like Monteverde, Osa Peninsula, Arenal National Park and Braulio Carrillo National Park.

Conclusion

I hope this article managed to answer your questions where is Costa Rica located at and if is Costa Rica in Central America.

This small country is one of the most beautiful and interesting places in the whole world, a place full of natural wonders, amazing beaches and happy people.

No matter if you are looking for a beach holiday or for an adventure in a wild and untamed land, you should consider Costa Rica for your next getaway.

You will fall in love with it from the moment you’ll get off the plane and you will quickly understand why National Geographic named this country among the first countries in the world when speaking about ecotourism.