Costa Rica is Central America's jewel.
It's an oasis of calm among its turbulent neighbours and an ecotourism heaven,
making it one of the best places to experience the tropics with minimal impact.
It's also mostly coastline, which means great surfing, beaches galore and a
climate built for laziness.
Costa Rica's enlightened approach to
conservation has ensured that lush jungles are home to playful monkeys, languid
sloths, crocodiles, countless lizards, poison-dart frogs and a mind-boggling
assortment of exotic birds, insects and butterflies. Meanwhile, endangered sea
turtles nest on both coasts and cloud forests protect elusive birds and jungle
cats.
Thrill seekers can fly through forests
on zip lines, peer into boiling volcanoes, surf oversized waves and dive with
dolphins and whales - all in the course of a normal day. Then again, if you
have some serious chilling to do, you can always lounge in a hammock and enjoy
the pure life, or pura vida - a national expression that sums up the desire to
live the best, most hassle-free existence.
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Full
country name: Republic of Costa Rica
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Area:
51,100 sq km
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Population:
4.1 million
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People:
96% Spanish descent, 2% African descent, 1% indigenous, 1% Chinese
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Language:
English, Spanish
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Religion:
75% Roman Catholic, 14% Protestant
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Government:
democratic republic
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Head of
State: President Abel Pacheco de la Espriella
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GDP:
US$37.97 billion
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GDP per
capita: US$9,600
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Annual
Growth: 1%
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Inflation:
9.1%
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Major
Industries: Tourism, electronics, coffee, bananas, sugar, food processing,
textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products
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Major
Trading Partners: USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico
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Culture
Costa Rica is noted more for its
natural beauty and friendly people than for its culture. The overwhelming
European influence erased almost all indigenous culture, and because Costa Rica
was a country of subsistence agriculturalists until the middle of the 19th
century, cultural activity has only begun to blossom in the last 100 years.
By some estimates, more than 75% of
Costa Ricans are Roman Catholics and 14% are evangelical Christians. In
practice, most church attendance takes place at christenings, funerals and
marriages. Blacks on the Caribbean coast tend to be Protestant, and there is a
sprinkling of other denominations in San José, including a small Jewish
community. Spanish is the official language, though English is understood in
touristed areas. Many Caribbean blacks speak a lively dialect of English, known
as Creole. Indigenous languages are spoken in isolated areas, primarily Bribrí,
which is estimated to be understood by about 10,000 people.
No one goes to Costa Rica for the
cuisine. Although traditional dishes run to the South American staples of beef,
chicken and fish dishes, with rice, corn or beans and fresh fruit as
supplements, most of this fare has given way to the ubiquitous pizza and burger
option. And even these can only be included in 'cuisine' by stretching the
definition to its breaking point. Also be warned that Ticos love to
spice up European dishes with salt - lots of it. We're talking lip-puckering,
instant-dehydrating, body-shuddering proportions. On the positive side, their
coffee is sublime. Even the coffee that accompanies the limp burger from the
fast-food joint is a cut above your average North American cup of coffee.
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Environment
Costa Rica is bordered to the north by
Nicaragua and to the southeast by Panama. It has both a Caribbean and a Pacific
coast. A series of volcanic mountain chains runs from the Nicaraguan border to
the Panamanian border, splitting the country in two. In the centre of these
ranges is a high-altitude plain, with coastal lowlands on either side. Over
half the population lives on this plain, which has fertile volcanic soils. The
Caribbean coast is 212km (131mi) long and is characterised by mangroves, swamps
and sandy beaches. The Pacific coast is much more rugged and rocky, and, thanks
to a number of gulfs and peninsulas, is a tortuous 1016km (630mi) long.
The country's biodiversity attracts
nature lovers from all over the world; its tropical forests contain 1500 tree
species. National parks cover almost 12% of the country, and forest reserves
and indigenous reservations boost the protected land area to 27%.
Costa Rica's jungles provide a variety
of habitats for the country's fauna including four types of monkey, sloths,
armadillos, jaguars and tapirs.The primary attraction for many visitors is the
850 recorded bird species, which include the resplendent quetzal, indigo-capped
hummingbirds, macaws and toucans. There are also a number of dazzling
butterflies.
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History
Mystery shrouds pre-Columbian Costa
Rica: few archaeological monuments and no proof of a written language have ever
been discovered. Recorded history tends to begin with Christopher Columbus, who
stayed for 17 days in 1502, and was so impressed by the gold decorations worn
by the friendly locals he promptly dubbed the country Costa Rica, 'the rich
coast'. Despite the lure of untold wealth, colonisation was slow to take hold
and it took nearly 60 years for the Spanish settlers to make a dent in the
tangled jungle. Once the process had started, however, Costa Rica, like its
similarly colonised neighbours, suffered the effects of European invasion. The
indigenous population did not have the necessary numbers to resist the Spanish,
and their populations dwindled quickly because of susceptibility to European
diseases.
The hoped-for hoards of gold never
materialised and Costa Rica remained a forgotten backwater for many years. The
18th century saw the establishment of settlements such as Heredia, San José and
Alajuela but it was not until the introduction of coffee in 1808 that the
country registered on the radars of the 19th-century white-shoe brigade and
frontier entrepreneurs looking to make a killing. Coffee brought wealth, a
class structure, a more outward-looking perspective, and most importantly
independence.
A bizarre turn of events in 1856
provided one of the first important landmarks in the nation's history and
served to unify the people. During the term of coffee-grower-turned-president
Juan Rafael Mora, a period remembered for the country's economic and cultural
growth, Costa Rica was invaded by US military adventurer William Walker and his
army of recently captured Nicaraguan slaves. Mora organized an army of 9000
civilians that, against all odds, succeeded in forcing Walker & Co to flee.
The ensuing years of the 19th century
saw power struggles among members of the coffee-growing elite and the
institution of the first democratic elections, which have since been a hallmark
of Costa Rican politics. Civil war, however, did raise its ugly head in the
1940s when ex-president Calderón and his successor, Picado, lined up against
the recent ballot-winner Ulate (whose election win was not recognised by
Picado's government) and José Figueres. After several weeks of warfare Figueres
emerged victorious, formed an interim government and handed the presidency to
Ulate.
The constitution of 1949 finally gave
women and blacks the vote and, controversially, dismantled the country's armed
forces - giving Costa Rica the sobriquet of 'the only country which doesn't
have an army'. President Oscar Arias received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for
his attempts to spread Costa Rica's example of peace to the rest of Central
America. The peace has, in recent years, been disturbed by upheavals of a
different kind. In July 1996, Hurricane César resulted in several dozen deaths
and the cutting off of much of southern Costa Rica from the rest of the
country. The Interamericana highway was closed for about two months and the
overall damage was estimated at about
100000000.00. The ill-famed Hurricane Mitch of
November 1998 caused substantial damage to Costa Rica, but the most
catastrophic events occurred in the countries to the north, especially
Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. In February 1998 the Social Christian
Unity Party's Miguel Angel Rodríguez won the presidency with almost exactly 50%
of the vote. A conservative businessman who made the economy his priority, he
went on to privatise state companies and encourage foreign investments in an
effort to create jobs.
By the time the February 2002 elections
rolled around, however, Ticos (a term locals use to refer to themselves)
were mumbling about a lack of government transparency and shady deals between
political mates. These grass-roots misgivings resulted in a 'no win' election,
and pollsters returned to the ballot box in April 2002. Rodríguez's successor,
Abel Pacheco of the conservative Social Christian Unity Party, was elected to
step up to the president's ring.
Pacheco began his term promising to
eliminate the public debt within four years. He launched a conservationist
platform banning new oil drilling and mining and proposed legislation
guaranteeing citizens the right to a healthy environment. It didn't take long
before the sheen paled. A campaign finance scandal clouded his presidency,
leading some opponents to demand his resignation, and it became unclear if he
could weather this storm through to the end of his term in 2006.
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