Period+6+Group+6

Group Members: Mitchell, Nick, Winn
media type="custom" key="333967"

Social Groups- 80% of ticos are European, 7% are indigenous European, 1% are ethnic chinese, and another 1% is indigenous.
"Language." Culture Grams. Provo, Utah: ProQuest, 2007. Culture Grams. Atlanta,Georgia. 2 Nov. 2007 &lt;[|http://online.culturegrams.com&gt;.]

===Language- Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica. Although English is widely understood in Costa Rica. Patua is spoken by the black population. Bribri, spoken by some indigenous groups, is the most common indigenous language. Ten other native groups speak Spanish or a native tongue.=== ===Religion-The Roman Catholic Church claims membership of about 80 percent of the population. Until the mid-1980's it was the nations official church but then the government decreed free religion about the nation. Still many people in Costa Rica are Catholic and Christian.=== ===Daily Life-People value privace in Costa Rica and quiet behavior. They are hard working and defend their personal honor. Costa Rica doesn't depend on other countries that much do to their knowledge to survive on their own. All people are treated equal and respected regardless of their social class. Kids are taught in school that armies are created to opress people rather than to protect people.=== ===Art- Dancing is a favorite activity among ticos or Costa Rican's. Typical Latin dances such as the salsa, merengue, and cumbia, as well as the Costa Rican swing, are popular.They also do alot of folk dances like the Punto and the cambute.They like soul music as well as original folk music.They also have museeums with paintings of pre-Columbian life.===

picture of oxes in Costa Rica

picture of church in San Jose, Costa Rica

picture of costa rica soccer player

picture of Costa Rica daily life

picture of Costa Rica art of a Toucan

__Physical Features-Mitchell__
Snaden, James N. "Costa Rica." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2007. Grolier Online. 2 Nov. 2007. Grolier online


 * __Rainforest Wildlife.__** **Costa Rica Homeschool. Nov. 5 2007. [|http://www.costarica-homeschool.com]**

===Land Forms: The highest peak in Costa Rica is Chirripo Grande standing at 3819 m / 12,530 ft. One of the highest live volcano is volcano Irazu standing at 3432 m / 11,260 ft. Earthquakes occur frequently. Costa Rica is mostly mountainous. The mountains, which goes from northwest to southwest across the country that has several peaks more than 2,500 m / 8,200 ft high. The Meseta Central ranges in altitude from 900 to 1,200 m / 2,953 to 3,937 ft. It is densley populated. The caribbean coastal plain, broad at the Nicaraguan border, narrows toward the south. The Pacific coastal plain is narrow and non-stopping. The Caribbean coast has few indentations. By contrast, two gulfs, the Nicoya in the north and the Dulce in the south, several bays, and very good beaches make the Pacific coast.===

===Water Forms: **Lago San juan Laguna de Fraijanes Arenal Lake is a lake in Costa Rica that is the largest lake in Costa Rica and has the most tourism. It is located near the Arenal Volcano, and the other lake in Costa Rica is Lake Cano Negro.** **Costa Rica** **has no long rivers. The principal stream is the San Juan River, the outlet of Lake Nicaragua. The San Juan River forms part of Costa Rica’s boundary with Nicaragua to the north. The Reventazón River drains the southern central plateau, flowing eastward through deep gorges to the Caribbean. The Río Grande de Tárcoles drains the northwestern part of the central plateau and empties into the Pacific. Costa Rica's only natural lake of any significant size is Lake Arenal, which is located on the eastern side of the Cordillera de Guanacaste, which is part of the Contenintal Drift in Costa Rica.**===

===Climate: Golfito near the Panamanian border, has a average rainfall of 4,700 mm. and no dry season. Puntarenas, near the Nicoya Peninsula in the northwest, gets just 1,450 rainfall and has a dry season lasting from November through April. The Capitol receives abundant rainfall from June to October. The climate of Costa Rica ranges from tropical on the coastal plains to temperate in the interior highlands. Average annual temperatures range from 31.7°C (89°F) on the coast to 16.7°C (62°F) inland. Along the Caribbean coast annual rainfall totals 2,000 to 2,500 mm (80 to 100 in) or more. The Caribbean coast has seasons of more rain and less rain but has no well-defined dry season. On the Pacific side, near Panama, the rainfall is also heavy, but there is a short dry season. In San Jose on the central plateau, the rainy season lasts from May through October, and annual rainfall averages nearly 2,000 mm (77 in). Rainfall is greatest in the mountains. Annual precipitation in the country averages about 3,000 to 3,500 mm (120 to 140 in).===

===Animals: Costa Rica has lots of different types of animals they have monkeys, Jaguars and pumas, and Sloths and anteaters. Those are just the some mammals. For reptiles and amphibians they have frogs and snakes, iguanas and lizards, leatherback turtles, and Olive Ridley turtles. For birds Costa Rica has over 600 species but the most commonly watched are Quetzals, Toucans, Hummingbirds, Parrots, and Macaws. Costa Rica also has Butterflies and insects such as Guanacaste walking stick insects, three inch rhinoceros beetles, Glasswing butterfly, owl butterfly. Costa Rica also had army ants and leaf-cutters. Lat but not least the dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles make up Costa Rica’s marine life.===

SIx (6) Photos:


Costa Rica Spider Monkey

glasswing butterfly



Arenal Lake Map of Costa Rica

__Current Issues- Nick__
"Mammals." __Photo.Net__. 6 Nov. 2007 <[|http://photo.net/cr/moon/mammals.html>.] "Republic of Costa Rica." __Culture Grams__. Provo,Utah: ProQuest, 2007. __Culture Grams__. Atlanta,Georgia. 2 Nov. 2007 &lt;[|http://online.culturegrams.com&gt;.]


 * Goverment- Costa Rica's goverment is a Democratic Republic. Costa Rica has seven provinces. You have to be eighteen or older to vote in Costa Rica. Costa Rica's president is Oscar Arias.**
 * Costa Rica has one of he most stable Democratic Goverments in Central America. Civil war erupted for six weeks in 1948 after a dispute over elections. Jose Figueres Ferrer led an interim goverment until 1949, when the election dispute was settled. Figueres (who was elected president twice) abolished the army in 1948, and a new constitution was introduced in 1949. Ever since then Costa Rica has enjoyed peace and democracy.**


 * Economy- Despite a relative lack of minerals and other natural resources, Costa Rica has a thriving ecomnomy. Domestic product per capital has more than doubled in the last generation because of stability successful tourism, timber, and agricultural industries. The country first started really growing in the early 1990's. In the mid 1990's the economy of Costa Rica slowed down due to world prices for agricultural products, bad weather conditions, and poverty (poverty effected about one fifth of the population.)**

In North Costa Rica, the natural cultures were influenced by Mayan civilization. Southern groups were more closely related to the original people of South America. Spain eventually colonized the Costa Rican area along with most of Central America. In 1821, Costa Rica joined other Central American nations in declaring independence or freedom from Spain. In 1824, Costa Rica became a state of the Federal Republic of Central America.**
 * History- Before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1502 a variety of native tribes lived in what we call today Costa Rica.

** Costa Rica Flag
 * Current events- Costa Rican holidays include New Year's Day, Feast of St. Joseph, Anniversary of the Battle of Rivas, Semana Santa ( Holy Week), Easter, Labor Day, Annexation of Guanacaste to Costa Rica, Feast of our Lady of the Angels, Central America Independence Day, Dia de la Raza, Feast of Immaculate Conception, and last but certainly not least Christmas.**
 * Since there are so many holidays I am going to pick Christmas to talk about. Just like about everyone in America spends a lot of time decorating their house for Christmas so do people in Costa Rica. People who don't have a home use a portal that has been received as a gift- then the holy family will help them get a house of their own

baby sloth

Costa Rica on map

Costa Rican old church

leafcutter ants

Oscar Arias, Costa Rica's President** Bibliography Voicethread Story Workspace