Costa Rica

Geography

Like its neighbors in Central America, Costa Rica is blessed with rich volcanic soil. The climate is milder in most of the country thanks to the high elevations in the central valley, where San Jose and most other cities are located. Travel is impeded by the rugged terrain. The railroad to the Caribbean port of Limon was damaged by an earthquake in the 1980s and has not reopened since then. The northwestern canton (province) of Guanacaste is flatter and has a drier climate than the rest of the country, much like Nicaragua, which has historical claims on that land. Costa Rica has several world-famous nature preserves and is a bird watchers paradise.

History

Costa Rica became independent after the Central American Confederation (founded in 1823) broke apart in 1838. Costa Rica was the first country in the region to cultivate coffee on a large scale. For many decades it had the strongest record of democracy in Latin America, but in 1948 a civil war broke out. The liberal side prevailed, and President Jose Ferrer abolished the Army in 1949, making Costa Rica the only demilitarized country in the Western Hemisphere. In 1986 Oscar Arias was elected president and worked hard at reaching a peaceful settlement in Nicaragua, on the country's northern border. He later received the Nobel Prize for his efforts. In 1986 Franklin Chang-Diaz became the first astronaut from Latin America, becoming a national hero. He made seven missions aboard the U.S. space shuttles before retiring as an astronaut in 2002.

Culture

Costa Rica has a smaller proportion of Indians than in most of Latin America. It is distinguished in having a tradition of independent small farmers who owned their own plots of land. There is a thriving peasant culture, noted for the intricately painted wagons reminiscent of pre-industrial Central Europe.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

Iglesia de la Merced (Church of Mercy), in San Jose.

Democracy Plaza and National Museum, in San Jose.

Butterfly house at La Paz waterfall gardens.

Traditional painted ox-drawn cart.

The National Theater, in San Jose.

Nature

Costa Rica is one of the most ecologically diverse countries on the planet, and is a favorite destination for bird watchers.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Great kiskadee,
Blue-gray tanager,
Silver-throated tanager,
Red-footed honeycreeper,
Scarlet-rumped tanager,
Scarlet macaw,
Pacific screech owl,
In right center, a Coppery-headed emerald hummingbird.

Politics

Since the civil war of 1948, Costa Rica has been a model of democratic stability in Latin America. The National Liberation Party has dominated politics in the modern era, institutionalizing a European-style social democratic welfare state with widely available health care and education. Oscar Arias was one of the most successful of PLN presidents, overcoming resistance to freer trade policies within his party. He also took a leading role in pursuing peaceful conflict resolution in Nicaragua and throughout Central America. He won the Nobel Prize for his efforts in 1987. Since the 1980s, there has been more of a balanced competition between the parties, as the conservative-leaning Social Christian Unity Party won the presidential elections. Both former presidents Jose Maria Figueres (PLN) and Miguel Angel Rodriguez (PUSC) have been accused of corruption. Abel Pacheco overcame factional rivalries within PUSC to win the presidential election in 2002. He pursued free trade policies, in spite of strong opposition to his attempt to get the country to face globalization. His. The newly-inaugurated president Oscar Arias ran on a platform of supporting CAFTA and promoting free trade.

NOTE: Width of each column shows each party's approximate strength. Colors and position (left to right) represent ideological leanings, which are often vague. Numbers show how many seats each party has in the unicameral Legislative Assembly. Minor parties are not shown.

SOURCE: CIA World Factbook