Population
a) The population of Costa Rica is 4,695,942 as of July 2013. Compared to the United States's 316,668,567, Costa Rica's population is about 1.4% that of the United States.
b) Most of the population live in the Central Highlands near the two areas of fertile farmland, The Meseta Central and the Valle del General. The rich soil and the favorable climate make it the best place to live (World Book Online).
Agriculture
a) Costa Rica's agriculture consists of bananas, coffee, corn, rice, sugar can, as well as fruits and vegetables such as beans, oranges, and potatoes. Other than the food they grow, Costa Rica relies on foreign trade, trading her fruits, vegetables, and other crops for manufactured goods (World Book Online).
Industry and Tourism
a) Costa Rica relies heavily on foreign trade and what they trade away is their bananas, coffee, pinapples, and other crops for manufactured goods and petroleum. In this way, their industrial needs are served by their climate and geography (World Book Online).
Cultural Activities
a) Costa Rica's geography and agriculture is affected heavily by the deforestation that occurs often due to the volcano eruptions. More than once, the volcanos have ravaged Costa Rica's capital. However, the deforestation is occurring because of the clearing of land for cattle (The World Factbook.)
I wonder how many of our US bananas come from Costa Rica. It's interesting to learn that the volcano causes regional deforestation, that's not helpful since the people of Costa Rica are so good at doing that on their own for crops and cattle :( Are there any other weather/climate related issues you can think of?
ReplyDeleteHow does climate relate to tourism? That was one of the questions on the worksheet that's missing in the above discussion.