Costa Rica
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| National motto: ¡Pura vida! (So Alive!) | |||||
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| Official language | Spanish | ||||
| Capital | San José | ||||
| President | Oscar Arias Sanchez | ||||
| Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 125th 51,100 km² (19,730 sq miles) 0.7% | ||||
| Population - Total (2004 est.) - Density |
Ranked 122nd 4,159,757 81.40/km² (186.2 per sq mile) | ||||
| Independence | 1821 | ||||
| Currency | Colón | ||||
| Time zone | Universal Time -6 | ||||
| National anthem | Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera (Noble fatherland, your beautiful flag) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .cr | ||||
| Country Calling Code | 506 | ||||
The Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south-southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica is seen as an example of political stability in the region, and is sometimes referred to as the "Switzerland of the Americas". With a population of 4 million Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish their nation's army in 1948. Since then it has experienced unbroken democratic rule.
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 and the North Pacific Ocean with a total of 1,290 km of coastline (212km /132 miles on the Caribbean coast and 1016 km/631 miles on the Pacific).
Costa Rica's border with Nicaragua covers 309 km (192 mi.) and Panama's border is 639 km (397 mi.). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 km² (19,730 sq. mi.), of which 50,610 km²(19,541 sq. mi.) is land and 440 km² (170 sq. mi.) is water, making it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia and about half the size of Ireland. Costa Rica is the most geologically diverse area in Central America. From its rolling hills in the central highlands to its rain forests, white sand beaches, hot springs and volcanoes, Costa Rica is full of geological wonders.
The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripo, with 3,810 m (approximately 12,515 feet), the second highest peak in Central America, after Volcan Tajumulco in Guatemala. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m or 11,257 feet).
Costa Rica also is comprised of several islands. Cocos Island stands out because of its distance from continental landmass (24 km², 500 km or 300 miles from the Puntarenas coast), but Calero Island is the largest island with 151.6 km²(59 sq mi.)
The largest lake in Costa Rica is Lake Arenal. The country has a model national park system: a developed and progressive system which stresses ecotourism. Costa Rica protects over 25 percent of its national territory within national parks.
Costa Rica is divided into 8 regions or provinces which are Guanacaste, Alajuela, North Puntarenas, Heredia, Cartago, Limon, San Jose and South Puntarenas.
History of Costa Rica
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. These groups are also believed to have created the Stone spheres of Costa Rica, between 200 B.C.E. and AD 1600.
The native 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. When gold was not found in Costa Rica the Spanish colonizers lost interst in the region. As a result, Spanish settlers who stayed had to work the land of the highland valleys without the aid of slaves. They did not mix with the local indigenous peoples who were small in number nor with the Afro peoples on the east coast who arrived in the era of the African slave trade. This is the reason that today the major ethnic group of Costa Rica is overwhelmingly white European (96%).
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. One special province, of which Nicoya is the capital city and the surrounding peninsula, was once an autonomous region known as Partido Nicoya. In 1824 its inhabitants voted to peacefully annex their land to Costa Rica. This province known as Guanacaste is the only Costa Rican province which has its own flag and national anthem. Strong ties to indigenous culture and heritage remain in this province.
Costa Rica has avoided 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, President 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 Electronics is a rapidly expanding industry.
Politics
Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice presidents and a 15-member cabinet that includes one of the vice presidents. The president and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for 4-year terms. Costa Rica uses a form of proportional representation to elect its national legislative body. Governors appointed by the president head the country's seven provinces, but they exercise little power. There are no provincial legislatures. Autonomous state agencies enjoy considerable operational independence; they include the telecommunications and electrical power monopoly, the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly, and the social security agency. Costa Rica has no military by constitution and maintains only domestic police and security forces for internal security.
A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limited presidents and deputies to one term, although a deputy may run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term. An amendment to the constitution to allow second presidential terms was proposed and also the constitutionality of the prohibition against a second presidential term has been challenged in the courts. In 2003 the prohibition was officially recognized, in a highly polemic resolution, as anti-constitutional allowing Óscar Arias (Nobel Peace Prize, 1987) to run for President a second time in the 2006 elections. Arias won the 2006 presidential elections by a very thin margin. Arias is promoter of free trade and supports the free trade agreement with the United States.
The success of democracy in Costa Rica has much to do with the grass roots, hands on involvement of everyday Ticos themselves. They do not take their peaceful nation for granted in a region that has often been rife with instability due to political corruption, dominating military regimes, poverty, and the lure of the international drug trade. Costa Rica cares for it's own people by sharing the national wealth through good health care programs and education available to all thus creating a better environment for all it's citizens. Almost 30% of the national budget is dedicated to education and culture. Costa Rica enjoys overall life expectancy of 76 years which is the highest in Latin America according to the CIA World Factbook.
Economy
Costa Rica's economy is dependent on ecotourism, agriculture, textiles and, more recently, exports of electronic circuits. Coffee is the king of exports and some coffee plantations are utilizing a conservationist attitude in farming this crop through self sustaining growing methods. "Shade coffee" is the name given to coffee grown under the natural forest canopies. Costa Rica's location in the Central American isthmus provides easy access to American markets as it has the same time zone as the central part of the United States and direct ocean access to Europe and Asia. The United States is the greatest recipient of Costa Rican exports.
The economy has been booming for Costa Rica because the Government had implemented a seven year plan of expansion in the high tech industry. There are tax exemptions for those who are willing to invest in the country. Costa Rica is an attractive destination for international investment as it is very progressive in modernizing and expanding it's economy.
Costa Rica is a member of CABEI, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration which manages purposeful strategies for the reduction of poverty, improvement of telecommunications and transportation infrastructure and encouragement of entrepreneurial development and free enterprise throughout Central America.
In early 2004 Cost Rica signed on to become the fifth member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) a free trade organization between the United States and Central American states which now also includes the Dominican Republic (DR-CAFTA). As far as Costa Rica is concerned, as of 2006, there are still many sensitive issues to be addressed with the implementation of CAFTA and the Costa Rican citizenry and government continue to debate whether to accept or decline the policies that entail economic engagement as a CAFTA member.
The unit of currency is the Costa Rican colón (CRC), which trades around 450-500 to the U.S. dollar; currently about 600 to the euro.
Flora and Fauna
Costa Rica is a true tropical paradise. It 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. Unique and exotic fruits and vegetables grow here and contribute to a delicious array of Tico cuisine.
Possessing incredible natural beauty and tropical and semitropical climates, Costa Rica is a showcase of wildlife, rain forests and sea life. Costa Rican's have taken a conservational stance as stewards of this beautiful and bountiful land. Over 25% of Costa Rica is composed of protected forests and reserves. There are 32 national parks, 8 biological reserves, 13 forest reserves and 51 wildlife refuges. Each of these natural refuges are unique. The Cocos Island Marine Conservation Area is about 500 km(310 miles) out into the Pacific Ocean and is only open to tours with special permission. Corcovado National Park is internationally renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) .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 800 types of bird can be found here, as well as over 100 species of mammals.
Demographics
In the central part of the country, most people are of European descent but some are also Mestizos (to varying degrees). Because of little intermarriage, most of the population today retain European complexions. The pure indigenous population today numbers about 29,000, less than one percent of the population. In Guanacaste, most of the population descends from a mix of the Chorotega Indians, Bantu Africans and Spaniards. Descendants of black 19th-century Jamaican immigrant workers constitute an English-speaking minority and at three percent of the population number about 96,000. Costa Ricans of mestizo and European descent account for a combined 94 percent (the vast majority being of Spanish decent). Another one percent is ethnically Chinese. [[1]] In addition there are many Americans who either come to retire or move to the country to live.
Today there is a growing number of Amerindians who migrate for seasonal work opportunities as agricultural workers mainly in the south-eastern border region with Panama. The most important group of immigrants in Costa Rica are Nicaraguans, who represent ten percent of the population. Most of them were originally refugees from civil war during the late 1970s and 1980s, but after the Esquipulas Peace Agreement an increasing number of Nicaraguans continue to migrate into Costa Rica due to economic reasons. There is also a growing number of Colombian, Panamanian and Peruvian immigrants. Many of the Nicaraguans who have been absorbed by Costa Rica have arrived as refugees. By investing in the care of it's new citizens, despite the burdens, Costa Rica lives with the attitude of considering this effort to be a good investment for the future.
Culture
In Costa Rica, the locals refer to themselves as tico, maje or mae (sort of "man", actually maje means "dumb") idiom in a very popular and "only with close friends" way, or tica (female). "Tico" comes from the locally popular usage of "tico" diminutive suffixes (eg. 'momentico' instead of 'momentito'). The tico ideal is that of a very friendly, helpful, laid back, unhurried, educated and environmentally aware people, with little worry for deadlines or the "normal" stresses of United States life. Visitors from the United States are often referred to as gringos, which is virtually always congenial in nature. The phrase "Pura Vida" (literally pure life) is a motto ubiquitous in Costa Rica. It encapsulates the pervading ideology of living in peace in a calm, unflustered manner, appreciating a life surrounded by nature and family and friends.
Costa Rican traditions and culture tend to be almost identical to Spanish Culture or European culture. Their accent with every-day used words is the most Spanish sounding among Central America, if not in Latin America in general. Costa Rica boasts a varied history. 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 conquerors (conquistadores) came in the 16th century. The center and south portions of the country had Chibcha influences. However the Indian people influenced Costa Rica as a whole very little as much of the Indians died from disease and mistreatment of the Spaniards. 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 and Italian 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.
One of the most well-known cultural celebrations in Costa Rica is a festival known as Guanacaste Days which is a 7-day celebration to commemorate the province's peaceful annexation to Costa Rica in 1824. Traditional Guanacastan music, food, handicrafts, evening fireworks and parades all give atmosphere to this yearly celebration of peace and democracy. The people of Guanacaste province have a saying, "De la Patria por Newstra Voluntad" which translates into : "part of the country by our choice".
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Booth, John A., Costa Rica: Quest for Democracy Westview Press (1998) ISBN 0813376319
- Daling, Tjabel, Costa Rica in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture, Interlink Publishing Group (2001) ISBN 1566563976
- Biesanz, Mavis Hiltunen, and Richard Biesanz, Karen Zubris Biesanz, The Ticos: Culture and Social Change in Costa Rica, Lynne Rienner Publishers (1998) ISBN 1555877370
- Greenspan, Eliot, Costa Rica For Dummies, For Dummies (2005) ISBN 0764584413
Special Credits
- World and I online. Articles: "Guanacaste Days: Celebrating Demoncracy's Heritage in Costa Rica". 2001. Tess Gadwa. "At Peace Amid Turmoil: Costa Rica's Unexpected Story of Success". 2004. Ben Barber. "Costa Rican Cuisine". 1991. Kay Shaw Nelson.
- The Washington Times-Honduras. Article. March 24, 2000. "CABEI committed to fight against poverty in Central America".
- Geographica. 2004. Costa Rica.
External links
- ICT official tourism site (English | Spanish | Deutsch | Français)
- Banco Central de Costa Rica Central Bank Costa Rica
- Constitution of the Republic of Costa Rica (In Spanish)
- Costa Rica City Guide - Message Board and Photo Gallery (free site).
Credits
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