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 Continue reading →
