COSTA RICA CULTURE

The territory that is now Costa Rica was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his final voyage to the Americas in 1502. It was not until 1522, however, that the conquistadors organized several expeditions to search for gold in the region, which they named Costa Rica (which means “rich coast” in Spanish). They met with fierce resistance from the indigenous people, but found no gold. Although Costa Rica was part of the Spanish Empire, its distance from the capital in Guatemala led to it being a largely autonomous entity. Without demanding it, Costa Rica was given its independence from Spain on September 15, 1821, along with Spain’s other Central American colonies. Democracy and peace have been a hallmark of Costa Rican politics. Only two brief periods of violence (1856 and 1948) have marred Costa Rica’s democratic development.
The year 1949 marked the formation of the Costa Rican constitution, which is still in effect. The unique element of this constitution and which has had the most long-lasting impact on the nation was the permanent dissolution of the armed forces. Costa Rica is home to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, whose firm purpose is to preserve the essential rights of men and women in the Americas, and also the United Nations University of Peace.

Economic Growth - Early in the 14th century Costa Rica became the first Central American country to grow coffee in an effort to provide revenue. By 1829 coffee had become the country’s largest export. During the 1879s an American firm that later became the United Fruit Company received about 300,000 hectares of land as partial payment for building a railroad to link the Central Valley to the Caribbean Coast to facilitate the export of goods. The company financed the construction of the railroad with banana plantations and their exportation to the United States. Unlike coffee, banana production remained in the hands of foreign-owned companies.
In recent times 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. Since 1999 tourism earns more foreign exchange than the combined exports of the country’s three main cash crops: bananas, pineapples and coffee.

General Information - Costa Rica is approximately 19,730 square miles - about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined and has a population as of 2010 estimated at 4,640,000. Its main language is Spanish, but nearly 11% of the population speaks English and a smaller percentage speak French, Portuguese and German. The literacy rate in Costa Rica is 94.9%, one of the highest in the world.
Costa Rica has been cited in various journals as Central America’s great health success story. Its healthcare system is ranked higher than that of the United States, despite having a fraction of its GDP. Because of Costa Rica’s latitude located between 9 to 10 degrees north of the Equator, the climate is tropical year round and day length does not change drastically with the seasons. The sun rises around 5:00 a.m. and sets around 6:00 p.m. year round. Changing altitude results in temperature differences. The Central Valley at 3,800 feet averages 72 degrees Fahrenheit while at sea level, the temperature is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and is tempered by sea breezes on the coast.

Country’s Uniqueness - Costa Rica is a small, peaceful country of friendly, hospitable people, rich in wildlife, natural diversity and pristine sandy beaches along its Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Colossal volcanoes are part of the charm of this tropical country. From high, dry mountains to verdant rain forests, Costa Rica is home to a wide range of ecosystems, communities of living organisms and their complex interactions with their environment. Among the most common ecosystems in the country are tropical rain forests, cloud forests, páramo (high altitude grassland and shrub land), dry Pacific forests and mangroves. All these ecosystems host an incredibly diverse selection of flora and fauna, each type adapted for life in a particular ecosystem. There are several reasons for this diversity. Costa Rica’s topography ranges from the bleak, treeless páramo at 13,000 feet above sea level, to rain forests on the coasts only 50 miles away, with countless microclimates in between. This country has only about 0.25% of the world’s landmass, but contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity (biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or an entire planet). About 25% of the country’s land area is in protected national parks and protected areas. This is the largest percentage of protected areas in the world. Costa Rica has successfully managed to diminish deforestation from some of the worst rates in the world to almost zero by 2005.

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