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'Costa Rica' (literally "Rich Coast"), officially the 'Republic of Costa Rica' (Spanish: ''Costa Rica'' or ''República de Costa Rica'', IPA: ), is a Republic 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 was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army.

Contents

History

Geography

Politics

Provinces and cantons

Economy

Tourism

Foreign affairs

Flora and fauna

Demographics

Religion

Language

Marriage

Culture

Music

Education

Notes

External links

History

In Pre-Columbian times the Indigenous people, in what is now known as Costa Rica, were part of the Intermediate Area located between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. This has recently been updated to include the influence of the Isthmo-Colombian area.
It was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya Peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl (named after Nitin) cultural influence when the Spanish invaders (conquistadores) came in the sixteenth century. The center and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences. However, the indigenous people have influenced modern Costa Rican culture to a relatively small degree, as most of the Indians died from disease and mistreatment by the Spaniards.
During Spanish Colonial times, the principal city in Central America was Guatemala City. Costa Rica's distance from this hub led to difficulty in establishing trade routes and was one of the reasons that Costa Ricans developed in relative isolation and with little oversight from the Spanish Monarchy ("The Crown"). While this isolation, which resulted allowed the colony to develop free of intervention by The Crown, it also contributed to its failure to share in the prosperity of the Colonies, making Costa Rica the poorest Spanish Colony in Central America. Another contributing factor to this poverty was lack of indigenous peoples to use for slave labor. While many Spaniards in the other colonies had slaves to work their land, many Costa Rican settlers had to work their own land. For all these reasons, Costa Rica was by and large unappreciated and overlooked by the Crown, and left to develop on its own. It is believed that the circumstances during this period led to the formation of many of the idiosyncrasies that Costa Rica has become known for, while at the same time setting the stage for Costa Rica's development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors.

Costa Rica's membership in the newly formed Federal Republic of Central America (sp. República Federal de Centroamérica / Centro América), now free of Spanish rule, was short lived. The distance from Guatemala City to the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where most of the population lived and still lives, was great. The local population had little allegiance to government in Guatemala City, in part because of the history of isolation during Colonial times. Costa Rica's disinterest in participating as a province in a greater Central American Government was one of the deciding factors in the break-up of the fledgling federation into independent states, which still exist today. However, all of the Central American Nations still celebrate September 15th as their independence day, which pertains to the independence of Central America from Spain.
Most Caribbean Costa Ricans of African descent descend from Jamaican workers (not slaves) brought in during the nineteenth century to work in the construction of railways connecting the urban populations of the Central Plateau to the port of Limon on the Caribbean coast. The construction of the railways was funded by the United Fruit Company, in exchange for land. This led to a major economic shift in the nation, in which fruit would come to rival the coffee trade as a major Costa Rican export.
During the nineteenth century, Italian and Chinese immigrants came to the country to work on the construction of the railroad system as well.

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Costa Rica

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 1,290 kilometers (802 mi) of coastline (212 km / 132 mi on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km / 631 mi on the Pacific). It is about the size of West Virginia and shares that state's reputation for excellent whitewater kayaking/rafting opportunities. Two of the country's most renowned rivers in that regard are the Rio Pacuare and the Rio Reventazon located just east of San Jose in the Central Highland region.
Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km / 192 mi of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639 km / 397 mi of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 square kilometers (19,730 sq. mi) plus 589.000 square kilometers of territorial waters.

The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, at 3,820 metres (12,500 ft), and is the fifth highest peak in Central America. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m / 11,257 ft). The largest lake in Costa Rica is Lake Arenal.
Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island stands out because of its distance from continental landmass (24 km² / 9.25 sq mi, 500 km or 300 mi from Puntarenas coast), but Calero Island is the biggest island of the country (151.6 km² / 58.5 sq mi).
Costa Rica protects 26% of its national territory within the Protected Areas system. It also possesses the greatest density of species in the world. [1]

Politics

Main articles: Politics of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong constitution. Although there are claims that the country has had more than 115 years of uninterrupted democracy, their presidential election history shows otherwise (see List of Presidents of Costa Rica). Nonetheless, the country has had at least fifty-nine years of uninterrupted democracy, which is by far the longest in Latin America, making it one of the most stable countries in the region. Costa Rica has avoided the violence that has plagued Central America.
Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice presidents as well as a cabinet designated by the president. The president, vice presidents, and fifty-seven Legislative Assembly delegates are elected for four-year terms. A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limited presidents and delegates to one term, although delegates were allowed to run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term.
In April 2003, the constitutional ban on presidential re-election was reversed, allowing Óscar Arias (Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1987) to run for President for a second term. In 2006, Óscar Arias was re-elected in a tight and highly contested election, running on a platform of promoting free trade. He took office on May 8, 2006. On June 16, 2006, he met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. [2]
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 but maintains domestic police forces for internal security. These include the Guardia Civil and the Guardia Rural.
Other current political issues include security, crime, and the limiting of large-scale emigration of people from Nicaragua.

Provinces and cantons

Main articles: Provinces of Costa Rica, Cantons of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is comprised of seven provinces, which in turn are divided into 90 cantons ("cantón" in Spanish, plural "cantones"), each directed by a mayor. Mayors are chosen democratically every four years by each canton's people. There are no provincial legislatures.
# Alajuela
# Cartago
# Guanacaste(Liberia)
# Heredia
# Limon
# Puntarenas
# San Jose

Economy

Main articles: Economy of Costa Rica

In recent times electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the prime industries in Costa Rica's economy. High levels of education among its residents make the country an attractive investing location.
The economy has been expanding for Costa Rica in part because the Government had implemented a seven-year plan of expansion in the high tech industry. The central government offers tax exemptions for those who are willing to invest in the country. Several global high tech corporations have already started developing in the area exporting goods including chip manufacturer Intel, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, and consumer products company Procter & Gamble. Trade with South East Asia and Russia has boomed during 2004 and 2005, and the country is expected to obtain full Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) membership by 2007 (the country became an observer in 2004).
For the fiscal year 2005, the country showed a government deficit of 2.1%, internal revenue increased an 18%, exports increased a 12.8% and the number of visiting tourists increased a 19%, reaching 1.5 million people. Revised economic figures released by the Central Bank indicate that economic growth stood at 5%, nevertheless the country faced high inflation (14%) and a trade deficit of 5.2%. For 2006 the economy is expected to grow a 6.8%
The unit of currency is the colón (CRC), which trades around 518 [3] to the U.S. dollar; currently about 675 to the euro. On October 16, 2006, a new currency exchange system was introduced, allowing the value of the CRC colón to float between two bands as done previously by Chile. The idea is that by doing so the Central Bank will be able to better tackle inflation and discourage the use of US dollars. Since that time, the value of the colon against the dollar has stabilized.
Costa Rica's location 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.

Tourism

With a $1.7-billion-a-year tourism industry, Costa Rica stands as the most visited nation in the region. Eco-tourism is extremely popular with many tourist visiting the many protected areas around the country. Sex tourism has become a popular form of tourism and has been gaining popularity in Costa Rica where it already amounts for 10% of the billion dollar tourism industry.^[1] Costa Rica has been hailed as a national destination for sex tourists, Child Sex Trade Rises In Central America Serge F. Kovaleski ^[2] this is largely due lack of legislation regarding prostitution. Though the government has made efforts to attack mainly child prositution. A large child prostitution organization was dismantled by authorities in 2005, sending the female leader of the groups to 8 years in jail. Critics said the sentence was not strong enough and that the government efforts have been unsufficient.

Foreign affairs

Costa Rica is an active member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Costa Rica holds a seat on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and on the United Nations University of Peace and many other international organizations related to human rights and democracy.
Costa Rica's main foreign policy objective is to foster human rights and sustainable development as a way to secure stability and growth.
Costa Rica is also a member of the International Criminal Court, without a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).
On June 1, 2007, Costa Rica broke ties with the Republic of China in Taiwan, switching to the People's Republic of China in mainland China. [4]

Flora and fauna

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Over 25% of Costa Rica is composed of protected forests and reserves.
One national park that is internationally-renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife is the Corcovado National Park.

Tortuguero National Park – the name ''Tortuguero'' can be translated as "Full of turtles" – is home to spider, howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys, the three-toed sloth, 320 species of birds (including eight species of parrots), a variety of reptiles, but is mostly recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle and is considered the most important nesting site for this species. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve hosts two thousand plant species, including numerous orchids. Over four hundred types of birds can be found here, and over one hundred species of mammals. As a whole, around eight hundred species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica. The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBIO) is allowed to collect royalties on any biological discoveries of medical importance.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Costa Rica

According to the CIA World Factbook, Costa Rica has a population of 4,133,884. Mestizos and Whites make up the majority of the population of Costa Rica with approximately 94%, making it the country with the largest white Latin American population in Central America. There are significant numbers of Costa Ricans of Italian, German, Jewish, and Polish descent. Just under 3% of the population is of black African descent. The majority of the afro Costa Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers. 1% is composed of ethnic Chinese, 1% of Amerindian peoples, and another 1% is "other."
As of today, the indigenous or Amerindian population numbers around 1%, or over 41,000 individuals. In the Guanacaste Province a significant portion of the population descends from a tri-racial mix of local Amerindians, Africans and Spaniards. There is also an expatriate community of people of all ages from the United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Britain, and other countries, especially in the Central Valley city of Escazu. Post-war Italian immigrants founded the Zona Sur town of San Vito de Coto Brus in southern Puntarenas, near the border with Panama.
Costa Rica hosts many refugees, mainly from Colombia and Nicaragua. As a result, an estimated 10% to 15% of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans,^[3] most of whom migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country. There is also a growing number of Peruvian refugees. Moreover, Costa Rica took in lots of refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s - notably from Chile and Argentina.

Religion

Christianity is the predominant religion in Costa Rica, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion as guaranteed by the Constitution of 1949. Some 92% of Costa Ricans are Christian [5] and like many other parts of Latin America, Protestant denominations have been experiencing rapid growth. However, three in four Costa Ricans still adhere to Roman Catholicism.
Due to small but recent immigration from Asia, the Middle East, and other places, other religions have grown, the most popular being Buddhism (due to an increasing Chinese community of 40,000), and smaller numbers of Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu adherents.
There is a Jewish synagogue, the B'nei Israel Congregation, in San Jose, near La Sabana Park. Several homes in the neighborhood east of La Sabana Park are festooned with Stars of David and other recognizable Jewish symbols.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has seen modest growth in Costa Rica in the last forty years and has built one of only two temples in Central America in the San Antonio de Belen region of Heredia.
The English language Free Baptist Church along the main highway in Limon conducts services in the Mekatelyu creole dialect.

Language

Main articles: Languages of Costa Rica

The only official language is Spanish. There are two main accents native to Costa Rica, the standard Costa Rican and the Nicoyan. The Nicoyan accent is very similar to the standard Nicaraguan accent due, in part, to its annexation from Nicaragua in 1822. A notable Costa Rican pronunciation difference includes a soft initial and double [r] phoneme that is not trilled as in most of the Spanish speaking world.^[4].
Jamaican immigrants in the 19th Century brought with them a dialect of English that has evolved into the Mekatelyu creole dialect.

Marriage

Because Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, only that church's marriages are legally recognized by the government. Any persons wishing to wed outside of the Catholic church must hire a lawyer who will perform and then register their civil wedding for them.

Culture

Main articles: Culture of Costa Rica

Costa Ricans often refer to themselves as ''tico'' (masculine) or ''tica'' (feminine). "Tico" comes from the popular local usage of "tico" and "tica" as diminutive suffixes (e.g., "momentico" instead of "momentito"). The phrase "Pura Vida" (literally "Pure Life") is a ubiquitous motto in Costa Rica. It encapsulates the pervading ideology of living in peace in a calm, uncluttered manner, appreciating a life surrounded by nature and family and friends. Some youth use ''mae'' a contraction of "maje" (''mae'' means "guy/dude") to refer to each other, although this might be perceived as slightly insulting to those of an older generation; maje was a synonym for "tonto" (stupid, moronic).
Costa Rica boasts a varied history. Costa Rica was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl cultural influence when the Spanish conquerors (conquistadores) came in the sixteenth century. The center and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences. However, the indigenous people have influenced modern Costa Rican culture to a relatively small degree, as most of the Indians died from disease and mistreatment by the Spaniards.
The Atlantic coast, meanwhile, was populated with African workers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Most afro Costa Ricans, however, derive from nineteenth-century Jamaican workers, brought in to work on the construction of railroads between the urban populations of the Central Plateau and the port of Limon on the Caribbean coast. Italian and Chinese immigrants also arrived at this time to work on railroad construction.

Music

Though the music of Costa Rica has achieved little international reknown, Costa Rican popular music genres include: an indigenous calypso scene which is distinct from the more widely-known Trinidadian calypso sound audience that supports nightclubs in cities like San José. American and British rock and roll and pop are popular and common among the youth (especially urban youth) while dance-oriented genres like soca, salsa, merengue, cumbia and Tex-Mex have an appeal among the somewhat older audience.

Education

Main articles: Education in Costa Rica

The literacy rate in Costa Rica is of 96% (CIA World Factbook, February 2007), one of the highest in Latin America. Elementary and high schools are found throughout the country in practically every community. Universal public education is guaranteed in the Constitution. Primary education is obligatory, and both preschool and high school are free. There are both state and private universities.
There are only a few schools in Costa Rica that go beyond the 11th grade. Those schools that finish at 11th grade receive a Costa Rican Bachillerato Diploma accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Education. Schools that offer classes to the 12th grade offer either the International Baccalaureate Diploma, accredited by the IBO in Geneva, Switzerland, the German Abitur or the USA High School Diploma, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
Costa Rica is also home to the Instituto Centroamericano de Administracion de Empresas (INCAE), originally founded in 1964 in Managua, Nicaragua with the support of the United States government and other Central American countries.^[5] The institution expanded into Costa Rica with the Sandinista Revolution in the 1980s in Nicaragua, the institution maintains a close affiliation with Harvard University, as it had played a part in its foundation. The campus is the second of two that the school has, the first being built in Managua, Nicaragua. According to a study done by America Economia INCAE ranked as the number one business school in Latin America for 2 consecutive years (2004, 2005) ^[6] and ranked within the top ten business schools in international rankings by The Wall Street Journal. ^[7]

Notes

1. Businesses Say No to Sex Tourism Industry Blake Schmidt
2. Costa Rica
3. www.state.gov Background Note: Costa Rica - People
4. The Phonemes of Costa Rican Spanish
O. L. Chavarria-Aguilar ''Language'', Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1951), pp. 248-253
5. http://www.incae.ac.cr/ES/
6. http://www.wes.org/eWENR/06aug/latinamerica.htm
7. http://www.harrisinteractive.com/services/bschools.asp

External links

★

★ Costa Rica Directory

★ Costa Rica Travel

★ Costa Rica Surf Reports

★ Costa Rica Map Project

★ Catholic Church in Costa Rica

★ Costa Rica Hotel Landmark Historic Patrimonial

★ Environmental News from Costa Rica
; Government and administration

★ Casa Presidencial Official presidential site.

★ Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, National Biodiversity Institute.

★ Las Constituciones De Costa Rica De 1821-1949 Costa Rican Constitution

★ Costa Rica Tourist Board Costa Rica Official Web Site
; National anthem lyrics

★ Himno Nacional de Costa Rica National Anthem Lyrics
; Travel & tourism

★