How many volcanoes are located in Costa Rica? What type of volcanoes are they?

1 Answer
Oct 7, 2015

There are 5 active volcanoes in Costa Rica and 61 dormant or extinct ones. Most of them are caldera volcanoes.

Explanation:

Costa Rica has at least 61 dormant or extinct volcanoes. At one point they were all active. The volcanoes are found in three different ranges: The Guanacaste Range, the Central Volcanic Range, and the Talamanca Range.

There are only 5 volcanoes in Costa Rica that have erupted in the last 400 years, meaning they are the only ones considered active. The most famous volcano is Arenal and attracts lots of visitors. Arenal was in an eruptive period until 2010 when it entered a resting phase. Arenal is considered a stratovolcano.

The majority of the volcanoes are considered caldera (meaning cauldron in Spanish) volcanoes. This means a volcano's crater is filled with water and rising steam.