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Costa Rica Overview

The Republic of Costa Rica is a republic in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south-southeast. Unlike some of its neighbors, Costa Rica has been an exemplar of stability, peace, and democratic governance. Since the minor civil war of the late 1940s that brought President José Figueres Ferrer to power, the country has been free of violent political conflict. In fact, Figueres abolished the military and nowdays Costa Rica has only a national police force. The capital is San José.

History

In Pre-Columbian times the Native Americans in what is now Costa Rica were part of the Intermediate Area located between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. This has recently been redefined to include the Isthmo-Colombian area, defined by the presence of groups that spoke Chibchan languages.

The native people of the Mayans and Aztecs were conquered by Spain in the 16th century. Costa Rica was then the Southernmost province in the Spanish territory of New Spain. The provincial capital was in Cartago.

After briefly joining the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide (see: History of Mexico and Mexican Empire), Costa Rica became a state in the United Provinces of Central America (see: History of Central America) from 1823 to 1839. In 1824, the capital moved to San José. From the 1840s on, Costa Rica was an independent nation.

Costa Rica has avoided much of the violence that has plagued Central America. Since the late 19th century only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development. In 1949, José Figueres Ferrer abolished the army; and since then Costa Rica has been one of the few countries to operate within the democratic system without the assistance of a military.

Costa Rica (Spanish for "Rich Coast"), although still a largely agricultural country, has achieved a relatively high standard of living. Land ownership is widespread and tourism is a rapidly expanding industry.

Geography

Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, 10° North of the equator and 84° West of the Prime Meridian. It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290km of coastline (212km on the Caribbean coast and 1016km on the Pacific).

Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309km of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639km of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 km, of which 50,660 km is land and 440 km is water, making it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia and about half the size of Ireland.

Culture

Costa Rica boasts a varied culture. Costa Rica was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The north west of the country, Nicoya, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl cultural influence when the Spanish conquistadores came in the 16th century. The center and south portions of the country had Chibcha influences. The Atlantic coast was populated with African slaves due to the practice of enslavement in the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition, during this 19th century thousands of Chinese families came to the country to work on the construction of the railroad system connecting the urban populations of the Central Plateau to the port of Limon on the Caribbean.

Costa Rican music includes a rhythm known as tambito as well a distinctive musical genre known as the punto. Two examples are the "punto guanacasteco", which hails from the Guanacaste province, and the "punto sancarleño", from San Carlos, in the Alajuela province. Most music and representative folklore in Costa Rica comes from the Nicoya peninsula and the Atlantic coast (Afro-Caribbean culture).

In Costa Rica the locals are referred to as Tico or Ticos. Ticos are a very friendly, laid back, and environmentally aware people. The phrase that you will hear many Tico's say is "pura vida" which literally means pure life. As a friendly expression you will hear many Tico's say "pura vida."

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's land mass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Costa Rica has no military or navy, but an abundance of wildlife; it has been said that the soldiers are the leaf cutter ants, the pilots are the macaws and the navy ships are the whales. Over 25% of Costa Rica is composed of protected forests and reserves.

Tortuguero National Park is home to spider, howler and White-throated Capuchin monkeys, the Three-toed sloth, 320 species of birds (including eight species of parrots), and a variety of reptiles.

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve hosts 2,000 plant species including numerous orchids. Over 400 types of bird can be found here, as well as over 100 species of mammal.

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