Costa Rica is a small country imbued with natural beauty. It covers 51,100 square kilometers. This little piece of land, which represents only 0.3% of the planet's total surface, houses 5% of the global biodiversity. It holds more bird species than the United States and a greater variety of butterflies than Africa.
About 25% of the country’s total land area is protected as national parks and refuges, hosting an incredible diversity of wildlife in tropical rain forests, cloud forests, dry tropical woods, mangroves, and other wetlands. Living in these diverse habitats and ecosystems are 13,000 plant species, 4,500 butterfly species, 163 amphibian species, 220 reptile species, 1,600 classes of fresh and salt water fish, and at least 850 bird species.