News

Whatever the outcome of the presidential elections on Sunday, one thing seems certain. The country will continue to break the mould.

Central America is a region still associated with coups and civil strife, but Costa Rica has no army. It was abolished in 1949.

Successive governments have poured money into books, not bullets. Not even the recent threat of the Mexican drugs war spilling over has led to calls for the army's return.

It was also the first developing country to state its aim of being carbon neutral (by 2021), in part through the mass planting of trees.

Official figures suggest that it has bucked the trend of losing its forests: more than half its territory is now covered in trees, compared to 20% in the 1980s.