Costa Rica Has A New Map Thanks To La Nación
The daily Spanish newspaper, La Nación, announced that beginning on Tuesday and continuing every Tuesday until June, readers will find a new map of Costa Rica, printed on special paper, covering four pages of the daily. Twelve of the segments will form part of a large map of Costa Rica, based on a scale of 1:175.000 that measures 2.14 metres by 2.04 metres.

The map was produced by the Sistema de Información Geográfica de La Nación and is expected to become a valuable tool for schools, nationals and visitors to Costa Rica.

The map details the rivers, the closest airports as well as new roads built, with great precision.

Most of the maps now available are on a scale of 2.000 to 5.000 metres for each centimetre. However, the new map is based on a scale of 1.750 metres to one centimetre, which means a closer look at the details.

Édgar Méndez, jefe del Sistema de Información Geográfica de La Nación, says the big map is precise and offers much more information than is available in other maps. Méndez says that the project has been years in the making, compiling "reliable sources" of information.

"Now there is no reason to get lost in the country, as the map is based on the co-ordinates of the Gloabl Positioning System (GPS) and anyone with a GPS instrument can pinpoint their location on the map within 15 metres", said Méndez.

The principal roads, as well as secondary and tertiary routes are all included in the map, that also indicate the national parks, protected areas and including small lagoons in golf courses. The new map will have the names of all provinces, towns, districts and communities, including the name of the hundreds of beaches along both coasts.

Alejandro Urbian, director of the La Nación, explained how in mapping out their delivery schedules the group saw the need for a more detailed and accurate map of the country that, according to Urbina, could be appreciated by the public as well. Urbina added that once the dimensions of the map was agreed upon, the decision of how to deliver it was easy, the group deciding on printing it various sections, printed on special paper that will cost some ¢20 million colones (us$38.500).

"We hope that it will be a document useful to get to know the country. Especially for travellers, given the poor signage on the roads", said Urbina.

The map was produced by the topographers of the La Nación with information taken from the Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnología, the Dirección General de Planificación Sectorial del Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes and the Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación.

Because the map is not produced by the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (National Geographic Institute), it is not considered as an "official" map and with the copyrights belonging to the Grupo Nación GN S.A..

Urbina added that in the future the Grupo Nación will probably print special editions of the map and will offer for sale complete collection for those who were not able to collect the free version in the daily print edition.