The Costa Rica which is officially known as the Republic of Costa Rica is the first country in the world who demolishes its army on its own. The capital of Costa Rica is San Jose.
It shares its borders with Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east-southeast, Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and Caribbean Sea to the east. It is considered as 4th and 5th according to human development index and environmental performance index.
Etymology of Costa Rica:-
The name was given by the Gil Gonzalez Davila who was a Spanish explorer which means “rich coast”.
History of Costa Rica:-
The earlier people in the country were considered as a part of intermediate International area which is located between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. The first emperors came to the country were Spaniards and under their rule Gautemala city is considered to be the largest city but due to their misbehavior many people have to lost their lives and other suffer from diseases like small pox.
In 1502 the Christopher Columbus was the first European who came to the country. Due to the large distance between the Gautemala city and Costa Rica the Costa Ricans developed a complex and started getting apart from the Spanish monarchy. As a result of which the Costa Rica was considered as the poorest colony by the Governor of Spain in 1719.
This was not only the consequence but also the country has to suffer from poverty and Costa Rica became a rural democracy. It lasts for several years until the Spaniards move towards the hills.
After getting independence from Spain in 1821 Costa Rica joined Central American provinces and from 1823 to 1829 under the rule of the Mexican Empire Agustin de Iturbide the country became a state in the Federal Republic of Central America. In 1838 Costa Rica leaved the membership and declared powerful without any help.
In 1880 Jamaican people arrived in the country and started a project on the construction of the railways with the help of US businessman Minor C. Keith. This railway line is linked to the port of Limon on the Caribbean Coast with the central plateau. When the project is completed the government has to give a large part of the land to Keith where he produced bananas and export it to the United States. As a result of which the bananas became the major exporter of Costa Rica
In 1917-1919 the Federico Tinoco Granados served as the dictator of the country. In 1948Jose Figueres Ferrer won the elections and became the president of the country but under his rule Civil War arises which was considered as the bloodiest event in the history of Costa Rica.
Politics and government at Costa Rica:-
Costa Rica is a democratic country and its constitution is very strong which came into power in 1969. The country is governed by the President who has the capacity to elect the vice presidents as well as the cabinet ministers. The term limit for the president, vice president and the members of the Legislative Assembly are of four years.
It also consists of three powers executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive powers are headed by the president, legislative by the legislative assembly and judicial by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is further partitioned into four chambers dealing with the constitutional law, Criminal law, Civil law, and Merchant law.
It also comprises of seven provinces namely Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Limon, San Jose, Puntarenas, and Guanacaste, each headed by the mayor who in turn is elected by the Canton’s people. No military is provided by this constitution.
Costa Rica Geography:-
Costa Rica is situated between 9 degree 55 minutes North latitude and 84 degree 4 minutes West longitude. The two important rivers of the country are Rio Pacuare and Rio Reventazon. The total are of the country is 51100 sq kilometers.
Costa Rica has several islands out of which Calero island is the largest covers an area of 151.6 sq kilometers. The highest peak, volcano and lake of the country are Cerro Chirripo, Irazu Volcano and Lake Arenal.
Costa Rica Currency:-
Costa Rican “Colon” is the currency used by the people of the country.
Costa Rica Economy:-
Since Costa Rica is the developing country it has to suffer with lots of problems like the fourth highest inflation rate in Latin America, lack of infrastructure, decrease in unemployment rate, population lies below the poverty line due to which the economic growth is very slow.
Due to the high tech companies in the country the economic growth starts increasing and exports goods like microprocessors, chips etc. The major industries like software development, electronics and pharmaceuticals play a vital role in the growth of the economy of the country. As a result of which the people become responsible towards their education.
In agriculture Costa Rica is famous for coffee production particularly in gourmet coffee beans which are used to make espresso coffee worldwide.
Demographics of Costa Rica:-
About 4,133,884 people are residing in the country and most of them are Spanish and white in color. Thus the official language of the country is Spanish. The refugees from
Colombia and Nicaragua are also settled here. Majority of the population is of the Christians so the religion followed by the people is Christianity. Also Buddhism is followed because of the increasing number of Chinese people. Due to the Christians marriages can be done in church only and if one wants to wed outside then he /she has to hire a lawyer for that.
Culture of Costa Rica:
British rock and roll, reggateon, and pop music are very famous in the country whereas salsa, bachata, soca, cumbia are popular dances. The instrument without the music and dance is impossible is guitar.
The literacy rate in the country is high. Those who passed 11th grade will get a Bachillerato Diploma by the Ministry of Education. Some of the famous Costa Ricans are: Franklin Chang Diaz a famous astronaut, Francisco Amegetthi a famous painter, Juan Santamaria the National hero.
Corcovado and Tortuguero are the famous national parks which attract the tourists and in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve more than 800 species of birds are found out of which orchids are famous.
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