Costa Rica (/ˌkɒstə ˈriːkə/, US: /ˌkoʊstə/ (About this soundlisten); Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika]; literally “Rich Coast”), officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: República de Costa Rica), is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million[4][5] in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers (19,714 square miles). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.[9]

The sovereign state is a unitary presidential constitutional republic. It is known for its long-standing and stable democracy, and for its highly educated workforce, most of whom speak English.[10] The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%.[10] Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Many foreign manufacturing and services companies operate in Costa Rica’s Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives.[11]

Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by indigenous peoples before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the United Provinces of Central America, from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Following the brief Costa Rican Civil War in 1948, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army.[12][13][14]

The country has consistently performed favorably in the Human Development Index (HDI), placing 68th in the world as of 2019, and fifth in Latin America.[15] It has also been cited by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as having attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, with a better record on human development and inequality than the median of the region.[16]

Costa Rica also has progressive environmental policies. It is the only country to meet all five UNDP criteria established to measure environmental sustainability.[17] It was ranked 42nd in the world, and third in the Americas, in the 2016 Environmental Performance Index,[18] and was twice ranked the best performing country in the New Economics Foundation‘s (NEF) Happy Planet Index, which measures environmental sustainability,[19][20] and was identified by the NEF as the greenest country in the world in 2009.[21] Costa Rica plans to become a carbon-neutral country by 2021.[22][23][24] By 2019, 99.62% of its electricity was generated from green sources[25][26] particularly hydro, wind, geothermal and solar.[27]

Photo Credits
Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash
Photo by Cosmic Timetraveler on Unsplash
Photo by Alex Ip on Unsplash

Fri May 22nd

De

Rainer Wagner · Over The Skype

Nothing stays the way it has been! - Experience from the new world: Rainer Wagner is a first-class print expert, with around 40 years of experience at the forefront. Nothing escapes him. And he can immediately classify everything correctly. For over 30 years, the person born and trained in Germany has lived and worked in LATAM, i.e. South and Central America, without losing ties to Germany. For INKISH D-A-CH and Andreas Weber there was a very interesting field of tension between: From old to new. Without compromises! The conversation touches on explosive points: What does the situation on the print market actually look like? What can you learn from LATAM in the D-A-CH region? How do German players arrive in LATAM? And above all: what is the situation in LATAM? What options are there? - What is happening in view of the digital transformation and the corona crisis? - What significance and what form does artificial intelligence have in the print sector? - Is the print technology as good as manufacturers claim? - What is really important from a practical point of view in print shops? - How can you keep the overall view in order to produce high quality and needs-based print products today? Rainer Wagner's answers are clear, unambiguous, precise and certainly surprising for many. Especially for those who want to focus on the old world of print with newly formulated performance promises. Info tip: Rainer Wagner shares his knowledge, experiences and observations in a Spanish-language blog that is heavily frequented in LATAM and beyond. http://www.druckblog.org As with all our ‘Over the Skype’ interviews, quality is limited to bandwidth, web-cams, and ability to literally LIVE mix the conversations. However, it works, and with Over the Skype, we will bring you more than 20 exciting people, and angles on the industry as it is right now. Enjoy! --- German edition --- Nichts bleibt so, wie es mal sein wird! — Erfahrungen aus der neuen Welt: Rainer Wagner ist ein Print-Experte allererster Güte, mit rund 40 Jahren Erfahrung an vorderster Front. Ihm entgeht nichts. Und alles kann er sofort richtig einordnen. Seit über 30 Jahren lebt und arbeitet der in Deutschland Geborene und Ausgebildete in LATAM, also Süd- bzw. Mittelamerika, ohne die Bindung an Deutschland zu verlieren. Für INKISH D-A-CH und Andreas Weber ergab sich im Gespräch ein hochinteressantes Spannungsfeld zwischen: Aus Alt wird Neu. Ohne Kompromisse! Das Gespräch berührt brisante Punkte: Wie sieht er die Lage des Print-Markts tatsächlich aus? Was kann man n der D-A-CH-region von LATAM lernen? Wie kommen Deutsche Player in LATAM an? Und vor allem auch: Wie ist die Lage in LATAM? Welche Optionen gibt es? - Was tut sich in Anbetracht der digitalen Transformation und der Corona-Krise? - Welchen Stellenwert und welche Ausprägung hat Künstliche Intelligenz im Print-Sektor? - Ist die Print-Technik so gut, wie Hersteller behaupten? - Worauf kommt es aus Sicht der Praxis in en Druckbetreiben tatsächlich an? - Wie kann man den Gesamtüberblick behalten, um heutzutage qualitätsvoll und bedarfsgerecht Print-Produkte herzustellen? Die Antworten von Rainer Wagner sind klar, eindeutig, präzise und sicher für viele überraschend. Vor allem für solche, die mit neu formulierten Leistungsversprechen die alte Welt des Print in den Fokus rücken wollen. Infotipp: Rainer Wagner teilt sein Wissen, seine Erfahrungen und Beobachtungen in einem spanisch-sprachigen Blog, der in LATAM und darüber hinaus stark frequentiert wird. http://www.druckblog.org Hinweis: Wie bei allen unseren "Over the Skype"-Interviews richtet sich die Bild-/Ton-Qualität nach verfügbarer Bandbreite und den jeweiligen Web-Cams aus sowie der Möglichkeit, die Konversationen buchstäblich LIVE zu führen. Es funktioniert trotz allem erstaunlich gut und mit Over the Skype bringen wir bis dato mehr als 50 besondere Persönlichkeiten aus aller Welt zusammen und geben Einblicke in die Branche, wie sie derzeit ist. Viel Spaß!

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