History of Costa Rica

Christopher Columbus, on his last voyage to the New World, first stepped on the land of Costa Rica on September 18 1502. A crowd of local Carib Indians paddled out in their canoes and greeted his crew warmly as he was setting anchor off shore. Gil Gonzalez Davila, Spanish, christened this land as Costa Rica meaning 'Rich Coast' because of the golden bands worn by the inhabitants on their noses and ears.

The evidence of human habitation in Costa Rica can be traced back to more than 10,000 years before the arrival of Columbus. The most characteristic features of the pre-Columbian inhabitants of this region are the thousands of spherical granite bolas that can be seen near the west coast even today. The size of these unique relics varies from the size of a baseball to that of a Volkswagen bus. Among other evidences of settlements are the ruins of a massive ancient city with aqueducts found east of San Jose.

At the time of arrival of Columbus, four major indigenous tribes were settled in Costa Rica. The Caribs inhabited the east coast, while the southwest was the domain of the Borucas, Chibchas, and Diquis. With the rise of Spanish colonialism, very few of the original inhabitants survived as some fled, while many others perished from the fatal smallpox brought by the Spaniards. The Spanish brought African slaves to work the land. Today, only 1% of Costa's Rica's 3 million people are of indigenous heritage. An overwhelming 98% of the population is white, and the Spanish descendents prefer to call themselves Ticos.

The settlement of Costa Rica began in 1522 as the natives were conquered by Spain in the 16^th century. Costa Rica was then the southern-most province in the Spanish territory of New Spain with Cartago as its provincial capital. A military general of Spain ruled Costa Rica for almost three centuries as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Due to number regional, cultural and geographical reasons, Costa Rica developed into an autonomous and individualistic agrarian society. Even the Governor had to cultivate his own farms due to the poverty, which eventually gave rise to an egalitarian tradition.

Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in 1821 in a joint declaration of independence from Spain. After spending a brief time under the dominance of Agustín de Iturbide of the Mexican Empire, Costa Rica became a state in the United States of Central America from 1823 to 1839. In 1824, the capital was moved to San José. Although the newly independent provinces formed a Federation, there were border disputes among them that added to turbulence.

In 1838, Costa Rica formally withdrew itself from Central American Federation and proclaimed sovereignty. Soon after the independence, Costa Rica realized that it has no regular trade routes to get their coffee to European markets. In 1843, William Le Lacheur, a British merchant and ship-owner, helped Costa Rica by establishing a regular trade route.

In 1856, William Walker, an American legislator began incursions into Central America. He proclaimed himself the President of Nicaragua and re-instated slavery soon after landing in Nicaragua. Even before he could implement his plans to enter Costa Rican soil, Costa Rica declared war. Led by Commander in Chief of the Army of Costa Rica, President Juan Rafael Mora, the filibusters were defeated and forced out of the country. Costa Rican forces followed them into Rivas in Nicaragua where the final battle took place. William Walker and his forces were defeated badly. Juan Santamaria, a drummer boy, who lost his life during this battle, is today remembered as a national hero.

Since 1889, an era of peaceful democracy began in Costa Rica began in 1889. Costa Rica has tried to avoid the violence that has plagued much of Central America. Since the late 19^th century, only on two brief occasions, the violence has affected its democracy. In 1917-19, Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a dictator.

In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election. He abolished the army in 1949. Since then, Costa Rica has been one of the few countries to operate within the democratic system without the assistance of a military. The constitution of Costa Rica was drafted soon after guaranteeing free elections with universal suffrage and the abolition of the military. Women and blacks were given voting rights, the communist party was banned, banks were nationalized and the limit for the presidential term was established. Figueres became a national hero, winning the first election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 12 presidential elections, the latest in 2006.

Oscar Rafael de Jesús Arias Sánchez is the current President of Costa Rica. He is the first Nobel Prize winner to be elected as the president of a nation after winning the award. He was the President from 1986 to 1990 and was elected for a second term in 2006. In 1987, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the civil wars in several Central American countries. He is also a recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism.

Once a poor agricultural country, Costa Rica has now transformed into a flourishing economy with technology and eco-tourism as its main tools. Costa Rica's major source of export income comes from technology. Multi-nationals such as Microsoft, Motorola and Intel have established operations in Costa Rica. Tourism industry is expanding at an accelerated pace in Costa Rica. Traditional agriculture, particularly coffee and bananas, still contributes immensely to Costa Rica's export income. Land ownership and wealth has become widespread leading to a relatively high standard of living maintained by the citizens.