This Central American country is located in the Pacific costal region. Costa Rica lies between Nicaragua to the North, and Panama to the South. The capital is San José. Costa Rica is 19,563 square miles, which is a comparable to the size of West Virginia. Almost all the towns have a central plaza with a Catholic church, government buildings, bandstand, and benches. Rural villages have grassy squares that double as soccer fields. The broken topography creates micro-environments, such as rain forests, dry topical forests, and savannas. Costa Ricans have set aside one quarter of their land as protected areas and national parks. Both coastlines of Costa Rica have an abundance of beaches. The country is very rich in volcanoes and earthquakes. The most recent large scale earthquake was two years ago. It had a 7.2 magnitude, and was felt as far away as Panama and Nicaragua. Throughout the country, there are many rivers and four mountain ranges, called cordilleras. Costa Rica has a mild subtropical temperature year round. As of 2012, there are 4,636,348 people that live in Costa Rica. The Costa Ricans are relatively “white” compared to other Latin American countries. According to the 1989 census, 98% of the population are "white" or "mestizo," and less than two percent are "black" or "Indian."