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Costa Rica

Republic of Costa Rica · Central America

UN member

Costa Rica is a country in Central America, with San José as its capital, home to about 5,152,950 people. Costa Rica shares land borders with 2 countries, listed below alongside its flag, currency, calling code and ISO codes.

CapitalSan José
RegionCentral America
CurrencyCosta Rican colón (CRC)
Calling code+506
ISO codesCR / CRI / 188 ISO 3166-1
Flag emoji🇨🇷
Population5,152,950 (2025) World Bank
Area51,100 km²
LanguagesSpanish
Internet domain.cr
DemonymCosta Rican

Bordering countries

🇳🇮 Nicaragua🇵🇦 Panama

What does the flag of Costa Rica mean?

Costa Rica's flag was created on 29 September 1848 at the suggestion of Pacifica Fernandez Oreamuno, wife of the president, an admirer of France's 1848 revolution who added a red stripe to the existing blue and white so the flag would echo the French tricolour and its ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood. In the flag's recorded symbolism, blue stands for the sky, ideals and perseverance, white for peace, wisdom and happiness, and the wide red band for the warmth of Costa Ricans, their love of life and the blood shed for freedom. The state flag adds the coat of arms, whose seven stars represent Costa Rica's seven provinces; the civil flag flies without it.

Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Costa Rica

About Costa Rica

Costa Rica, officially Republic of Costa Rica, is a United Nations member state in Central America. Its capital and seat of government is San José. It shares land borders with 2 countries. The official currency is the Costa Rican colón (₡), using the code CRC.

Curious about the city itself? See what is the capital of Costa Rica for San José’s own facts and history.

To call Costa Rica from abroad, dial the country code +506. In international standards it is identified by the ISO 3166-1 codes CR (alpha-2) and CRI (alpha-3), which appear in everything from web addresses to shipping labels. As of 2025, its population is around 5,152,950.

Frequently asked questions

What is the capital of Costa Rica?
The capital of Costa Rica is San José.
What currency does Costa Rica use?
Costa Rica uses the Costa Rican colón (CRC, symbol ₡).
What is the country calling code for Costa Rica?
The international dialling code for Costa Rica is +506.
What are the ISO codes for Costa Rica?
Costa Rica has the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code CR, the alpha-3 code CRI and the numeric code 188.
What is the flag emoji for Costa Rica?
The flag emoji for Costa Rica is 🇨🇷. You can copy it from the top of this page.
What do the colors on the flag of Costa Rica mean?
Costa Rica's flag was created on 29 September 1848 at the suggestion of Pacifica Fernandez Oreamuno, wife of the president, an admirer of France's 1848 revolution who added a red stripe to the existing blue and white so the flag would echo the French tricolour and its ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood. In the flag's recorded symbolism, blue stands for the sky, ideals and perseverance, white for peace, wisdom and happiness, and the wide red band for the warmth of Costa Ricans, their love of life and the blood shed for freedom. The state flag adds the coat of arms, whose seven stars represent Costa Rica's seven provinces; the civil flag flies without it.

How Costa Rica compares

Flags with the same colours as Costa Rica

43 other national flags use exactly the same set of colour families (red, blue, white). Similar colours are the most common reason flags get mistaken for one another, though colour alone says nothing about layout. Showing the first 12.

Costa Rica appears in these lists

Population from the World Bank (SP.POP.TOTL); flag, capital, currency, calling code and ISO data from open datasets. Rankings, density and flag colour matches are computed from that same dataset. Full sources and vintage on the data page. Last updated . Report a correction.