Cocos Island (Spanish: Isla del Coco) is an uninhabited island (except for a permanent ranger station) located off the shore of Costa Rica. It constitutes the 11th district (one of 13) of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas. It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica. It is located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 550 km (340 mi) from the Pacific shore of Costa Rica, at 05°31′08″N 087°04′18″W / 5.51889°N 87.07167°W / 5.51889; -87.07167Coordinates: 05°31′08″N 087°04′18″W / 5.51889°N 87.07167°W / 5.51889; -87.07167. With an area of approximately 23.85 km² (9.2 mi²), about 8×3 km (5×1.9 mi) and a perimeter of around 23.3 km, this island is more or less rectangular in shape.
Surrounded by deep waters with counter-currents, Cocos Island is admired by scuba divers for its populations of Hammerhead sharks, rays, dolphins and other large marine species. The extremely wet climate and oceanic character give Cocos an ecological character that is not shared with either the Galapagos Archipelago or any of the other islands (e.g., Malpelo or Coiba) in this region of the world.
Read more about Cocos Island: Present Status and International Distinctions, Geology and Landscape, Climate, Ecology, Piracy and Hidden Treasures, Habitats Threatened, Cocos Island in Fiction
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“I candidly confess that I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States. The control which, with Florida, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus bordering on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it, would fill up the measure of our political well-being.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)