15 September: Costa Rica

Costa Rica gained independence from Spain on this date in 1821. Here are ten things you may not know about Costa Rica.

1. It's a small country - 51,100 km2/19,653 sq miles in are - smaller than Lake Michigan in the USA - but has 801 miles of coastline.
2. Costa Ricans refer to themselves as “Ticos” (males) and “Ticas” (females). When talking about their significant other, they call them their “media naranja”, which means “the other half of my Orange.”
3. The name of the country literally means "Rich Coast".
4. It doesn't have an army. It was constitutionally abolished in 1949. While not alone in this - 22 other countries have no army, but Costa Rica is the only armyless country with a population of over a million.
5. It's a great place for wildlife. Its area may only be .03% of the earth's surface, but 5% of all known species of plant or animal can be found in Costa Rica. That includes 750,000 species of insects, including about 20,000 different types of Spider; about 18% of the world's butterfly species and 52 species of Hummingbird. Not to mention monkeys, Sloths and Turtles. About 25% of the country has been made into national parks or conservation areas.
6. People have four names each - at least two first names followed by their father's surname and their mother's surname. Women do not change their names when they marry.
7. Streets, however, don't often have names at all. Even in the capital, San José, people will use landmarks to direct people anywhere, and only in 2012 were any street signs put up there.
8. If you're into archaeological curiosities, Costa Rica has some of those, too. The Diquís Delta stone spheres are believed to be around 2,000 years old. There are thousands of stone spheres, ranging in size from from 4 inches (10 cm) to 8 feet (2.5 m) in diameter. Many of the stones were found placed near gravesites, aligned in strait and curved lines, triangles, and parallelograms.
9. Most radio stations in the country play the national anthem ("Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera" ("Noble homeland, your beautiful flag") every morning at 7am.
10. The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, at 3,819 metres (12,530 ft).