Costa Rica Coat of Arms Ceramic Tree Decoration

Costa Rica, meaning "rich coast" in Spanish), officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by indigenous people before it came under Spanish rule in the 16th century. Once a poor and isolated colony, since becoming independent in the 18th century, Costa Rica has become one of the most stable, prosperous, and progressive nations in Latin America. It constitutionallyabolished its army permanently in 1949, becoming the first and one of the few sovereign nations without a standing army. A constitutional republic, it is the only Latin American country to have been a democracy since 1950 or earlier.Costa Rica has consistently been among the top-ranking Latin American countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), placing 62nd in the world as of 2012.