Costa Rica is located between Panama and Nicaragua, with coasts on both the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is only 51,100 kilometers square and has an estimated population of 4.25 million people. Human habitation can be traced back more than 10,000 years. Little is known of the cultures that existed pre-Spaniards, and the various histories we have consulted conflict greatly. What is known for sure is that the locals lived in about 20 autonomous tribes, all with distinct cultures and customs. Some sources say Costa Rica was a sparsely populated backwater with 20,000 people. Others say it had a flourishing population of 400,000, with some of the first pottery making villages in the Americas, and was part of an extensive trade network amongst the Americas. None of the impressive stone architecture that characterized the more advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south has been found, and only one historical site has been found that indicates a large city (10,000 people). Some sources say the city indicates a once great civilization, other sources disagree.

Columbus and his crew were the first white men to arrive. Their ship had been damaged in a hurricane, and they made an emergency stop near Puerto Lim¢n on September 18, 1502. Columbus was on his fourth and last voyage to the Americas. While his ship was being repaired by his men, Columbus ventured inland. He was greeted hospitably by the locals and exchanged goods with them. He returned to Spain reporting that he saw more gold in two days than he had seen in four years in Spain, which is how the name Costa Rica (“rich coast”) evolved. A colony was immediately set up in Panama, just south of Costa Rica. This first colony and several subsequent colonies all failed due to hostile natives and tropical disease. Once Panama City was established, it became the base for exploring in all of North and South America, including Costa Rica. After extensive searching, gold was never found in Costa Rica, so no permanent settlements were established there by the Spaniards until 1563. Meanwhile, many indigenous people were brutally slaughtered or died of European sicknesses.
In 1562, Juan Vasquez de Coronado was assigned to be governor of Costa Rica and founded a farming settlement called Cartago the following year in the fertile Central Valley. The locals were enslaved to work the farms, but the locals kept dying, either by disease or murder for rebelling. It is estimated that by 1700, only 8,000 indigenous people still existed, most living in isolation from the whites in very remote places. With few Indian slaves to work the land, the colonists were forced to work the land themselves, scratching out a meager subsistence by tilling small plots. The impoverished colony grew slowly, with more cities being established and more land cultivated. Since there was no wealthy upper class to dominate politically and economically, a rural democracy system developed. Since Costa Rica was considered a minor outpost with little strategic importance, it was pretty much ignored by the Spanish government.

In 1821, while Spain was enmeshed in war in France, Mexico declared independence for itself and all of Central America, expecting the various Central American states would join with Mexico. The news reached Costa Rica a month after the event. Leadership quarreled about whether to join Mexico or to join the currently forming democratic Central American Federation, which would give Costa Rica a measure of autonomy. There was a brief civil war in 1823 which was won by the supporters of the Federation. Juan Mora Fernandez was elected the country’s first head of state under the Federation in 1824.The Federation was plagued with problems, including annexation attempts by Mexico, class conflicts and civil war. During the all the conflict, Costa Rica mostly kept to itself. Fernandez’s progressive administration developed towns, built roads, expanded public education, published a newspaper and coined currency. The coffee boom had also begun, and Fernandez encouraged the cultivation of coffee with land grants and free saplings for growers. Costa Rica left the Federation in 1838, which had little impact on Costa Rican politics, and the Federation disintegrated shortly thereafter.

By the end of the 1800’s, coffee exports account for 80% of Costa Rica’s foreign earnings and Costa Rica went from being the poorest in Central America to the richest. A new elite wealthy class of “coffee barons” emerged — not the farmers, but those that did the processing, marketing and financing of the product. The coffee barons used their power to dominate politics starting in 1849. After more than a decade of political turmoil caused by the coffee baron’s interference, General Tom Guardia seized power in 1870. Though he ruled as a military dictator, his 12 years in power were marked by progressive policies like free and compulsory primary education for both sexes, restraining the excesses of the military and taxing coffee earnings to finance public works. The post-Guardia years witnessed the fitful transition to full democracy, and in 1889 democratic elections were held.

While Guardia was in office, he contracted an American, Minor Keith, to build a much needed railroad from San Jose to Puerto Limon. Keith was given 800,000 acres of land along the route and provided a 99 year lease to run the railroad. Like the railroad in Panama, the project was something of a disaster, with high financial costs and death tolls. When the railroad was completed in 1890, it was running at a loss. Keith had been growing bananas on his land to feed the laborers, and with the railroad complete, started to export the bananas to the US to try to subsidize the railroad losses. American consumers went crazy over bananas, and business boomed. Keith established United Fruit Company, which owned huge swathes of land, much of the transportation and communication infrastructure, and many bureaucrats. By the early 20th century, bananas surpassed coffee as Costa Rica’s leading export crop and United Fruit was all of Central America’s leading employer. Jamaican workers were imported for both the railroad and the banana industry, leading to racial tensions.

The next major era began with the election of Dr. Rafael Angel Calder¢n Guardia in 1940. His enlightened policies included land “reform”, establishment of a guaranteed minimum wage, paid vacations, unemployment compensation, progressive taxation, and a series of constitutional amendments codifying workers’ rights. Calderón also founded the University of Costa Rica. Despite the good things he accomplished, his administration was still strongly opposed by a group called “The Caribbean League” headed by Jose Figueres Ferrer. In 1948, Calderon Guardia lost re-election, but refused to step down, claiming fraud. This kicked off a civil war, with The Caribbean League at the forefront. After a 6 week was that left 2,000 dead, the anti-Calderon side won and Figueres Ferrer assigned himself to be the Head of State. He consolidated the reforms introduced by Calder¢n and put a new constitution in place. New constitutional rights included awarding full citizenship and voting rights to women, blacks, Chinese and indigenous people that were previously only allowed to be residents; established a term limit for presidents; established a modern welfare state, and nationalized the banks and insurance companies. Costa Rica also was the first country in the world to abolish its military. Once the constitution was in place, Figures-Ferrer ceded power to a new democratic government. He was later elected as president twice and is still viewed as a national hero.

During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the United States of America actively encouraged and supported civil war in several Central American countries, trying to establish puppet governments that would do the US’s bidding. Thanks to Figueres Ferrer’s reforms, Costa Rica was a peaceful state with a stable government, an island of democracy in one of the world’s most war torn regions. Unfortunately, Costa Rica was reluctantly dragged into the situation. Throughout the century, assorted rebel forces had set up base camps in northern Costa Rica, and officials were paid off and pressured to turn a blind eye to the activities. Being as the USA was behind the current conflicts, most of the current base camps belonged to them. The situation polarized Costa Ricans in terms of how to best handle it, some believing they should join in war and others wanting to abolish all bases. In 1986, Oscar Arias Sanchez was elected president on the platform of peace. Arias declared Costa Rica neutral and closed the rebel bases. He then started negotiating a peace contract for all of Central America. In 1987, all five Central American presidents signed the peace plan and Arias Sanchez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Meanwhile”¦ in the 1970’s, world prices for coffee dropped dramatically, leading to an economic crises in Costa Rica. They decided to target the tourist industry, using an innovative angle eco-tourism. More and more tracts of land became protected reserves, and more and more tourists came to see the pristine wilderness and unique wildlife species indigenous to the area, choosing Costa Rica over neighboring Central American countries because of the political stability. By 1985 there were 125 government protected sites and tourist income exceeded income from crop exportation. Today, about 25% of land is government protected. Likewise, many foreigners moved to Costa Rica for the same reason, some wanting to make their money in tourism, some wanting to retire cheaply, some wanting to live in an eco-friendly county. Today, two thirds of coastal land is foreign owned. Unfortunately, the foreigners have driven up land prices to be comparable to the United States, which is unaffordable for most locals.

Today, 97% of Costa Ricans (or Ticos as they call themselves) are literate with an average life expectancy of 78 years old. 18% of the people live under the poverty line, but with government supplied sanitation, clean water, health care and welfare programs to help with food and housing, none are destitute. The government is offering incentives to global corporations to open in Costa Rica and there has been an influx of software, computer hardware, pharmaceutical and other consumer products industries setting up shop there.