---
title: "Costa Rica vs Italy — area, population, currency"
description: "Costa Rica is 51,100 km² with 5,152,950 people; Italy is 301,340 km² with 58,915,656. Area, density, currency, languages and time zones side by side."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/costa-rica-vs-italy/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Costa Rica vs Italy

**Costa Rica vs Italy: Italy is larger; Italy has more people**

51,100 km² vs 301,340 km² · 5,152,950 vs 58,915,656

Italy is 5.9 times larger than Costa Rica — 301,340 against 51,100 km². Italy is 11 times more populous than Costa Rica — 58,915,656 against 5,152,950 people.

## Side by side

|  | Costa Rica | Italy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital | San José | Rome |
| Area | 51,100 km² | 301,340 km² |
| Population | 5,152,950 (2025) | 58,915,656 (2025) |
| Density | 100.8 /km² | 195.5 /km² |
| Currency | Costa Rican colón (CRC) | Euro (EUR) |
| Official languages | Spanish | Italian |
| Time zones | UTC-06:00 | UTC+01:00 |
| Calling code | +506 | +39 |
| Drives on the | right | right |
| Continent | North America | Europe |
| ISO codes | CR / CRI | IT / ITA |

## Population density

Italy is 1.9 times more densely populated than Costa Rica — 196 against 101 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

## Practical differences

- Different currencies: the Costa Rican colón and the Euro.
- Different continents — North America and Europe.

## Costa Rica

Costa Rica covers about 0.03 percent of the Earth's surface but holds roughly five percent of its known species. More than a quarter of the country is protected, forest cover has roughly doubled since the 1980s, and it runs on close to 100 percent renewable electricity most years. It has around sixty volcanoes, six of them active.

## Italy

Italy has three of Europe's most active volcanoes — Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius — and Stromboli has been erupting more or less continuously for at least 2,000 years. It has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country. The Alps and Apennines mean about three-quarters of the land is mountain or hill.

> Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.

## Common questions

### Is Costa Rica bigger than Italy?

Italy is larger — 301,340 km² against 51,100 km².

### Which has more people, Costa Rica or Italy?

Italy, with 58,915,656 against 5,152,950.

### What is the time difference between Costa Rica and Italy?

Costa Rica is UTC-06:00 and Italy is UTC+01:00. Daylight saving shifts the gap during the year in places that observe it.

## Related pages

- [Costa Rica](https://atoneplace.net/country/costa-rica/)
- [Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country/italy/)
- [India vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/india-vs-italy/)
- [China vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-italy/)
- [China vs Costa Rica](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/china-vs-costa-rica/)
- [Canada vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-italy/)
- [Canada vs Costa Rica](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/canada-vs-costa-rica/)
- [Australia vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-italy/)
- [Australia vs Costa Rica](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/australia-vs-costa-rica/)
- [France vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/france-vs-italy/)
- [Germany vs Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/germany-vs-italy/)
- [Italy vs United States](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/italy-vs-united-states/)
- [Italy vs United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/italy-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [Italy vs Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country-vs/italy-vs-japan/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]