The following information comes from the Year 2000 Census

• Costa Rica has a young population indicating a growing productive work force and consumer group.

Age (Years)   0 - 14 15 - 29 30 - 44 45 and over

Population % 34.8 27.3 20.9 17.0

• 45.4% of Costa Ricans have a telephone. Cell phones are growing rapidly in popularity. Almost all others who do not have their own phone have access to a public telephone within a reasonable distance of their residence.
• Costa Rica has an area of 19,730 square miles.
• The population of Costa Rica is 3,810,000 according to the 2000 census.
• 51% live in the greater San José area of the Central Valley.
• 75% live in the provinces of San José , Alajuela, Heredia, and Cartago.
• 25% live in the provinces of Puntarenas, Guanacaste, and Limón.

• Radio and TV are commercially owned in Costa Rica. 87% of the population, or a market of 2.9 million, are reached by radio and TV.
• There are three major daily Spanish language newspapers - La Nacion, La Republica and La Prensa Libre. There are many other smaller Spanish language newspapers and magazines. Costa Rica has two weekly English language newspapers, the Tico Times and the Central American Weekly. Tico Times is more inclined towards news while the Central American Weekly is more of a tourist newspaper. The Costa Rica Acktuel is a German weekly. There are also English language magazines.

Information Courtesy of ARCR