79-499: A casado (Spanish, "married man") is a Costa Rican meal using rice, black beans, plantains , salad, a tortilla , and an optional protein source such as chicken, beef, pork, fish, and so on. The term may have originated when restaurant customers asked to be treated as casados , since married men ate such meals at home. Another theory is that the rice and beans and/or the grouping of dishes are married , since they are always together. This Costa Rican cuisine -related article
158-483: A 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.65/10, ranking it 118th globally out of 172 countries. The country has been considered economically stable with moderate inflation, estimated at 2.6% in 2017, and moderately high growth in GDP, which increased from US$ 41.3 billion in 2011 to US$ 52.6 billion in 2015. The estimated GDP for 2018 is US$ 59.0 billion and the estimated GDP per capita (purchasing power parity)
237-891: A culture-bound view of freedom. The methodology of the survey is grounded in basic standards of political rights and civil liberties, derived in large measure from relevant portions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . These standards apply to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development. Mainwaring et alia (2001, p. 52) wrote that Freedom House's index had "two systematic biases: scores for leftist were tainted by political considerations, and changes in scores are sometimes driven by changes in their criteria rather than changes in real conditions." Nonetheless, when evaluated in Latin American countries yearly, Freedom House's index
316-679: A few sovereign nations without a standing army . The country has consistently performed favorably in the Human Development Index (HDI), placing 58th in the world as of 2022 , and fifth in Latin America. It has also been cited by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as having attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, with a better record on human development and inequality than
395-485: A key role in Costa Rica's history and in 2006, was the third cash crop export. As a small country, Costa Rica now provides under 1% of the world's coffee production. In 2015, the value of coffee exports was US$ 305.9 million, a small part of the total agricultural exports of US$ 2.7 billion. Coffee production increased by 13.7% percent in 2015–16, declined by 17.5% in 2016–17, but was expected to increase by about 15% in
474-476: A larger bias, +0.5 s.d., favoring Christian countries; similar results held for the methodology of Sussman (Bollen and Paxton, 2000, p. 585). In contrast, another method by a critic of Freedom in the World produced a bias for Leftist countries during the 1980s of at least +0.8 s.d., a bias that is "consistent with the general finding that political scientists are more favorable to leftist politics than
553-732: A major role in the national economy and eventually became a symbol of the exploitative export economy. The major labor dispute between the peasants and the United Fruit Company (The Great Banana Strike) was a major event in the country's history and was an important step that would eventually lead to the formation of effective trade unions in Costa Rica , as the company was required to sign a collective agreement with its workers in 1938. Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability than many of its fellow Latin American nations. Since
632-541: A match between the national teams of Costa Rica and China . Freedom in the World Freedom in the World is a yearly survey and report by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and significant related and disputed territories around the world. Freedom in the World was launched in 1973 by Raymond Gastil . It produces annual scores representing
711-439: A new constitution by a democratically elected assembly. Having enacted these reforms, the junta transferred power to Ulate on 8 November 1949. After the coup d'état , Figueres became a national hero, winning the country's first democratic election under the new constitution in 1953 . Since then, Costa Rica has held 15 additional presidential elections, the latest in 2022 . With uninterrupted democracy dating back to at least 1948,
790-674: A result of which is that the country has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America, 97%. General Basic Education is mandatory and provided without cost to the user. A US government report confirms that the country has "historically placed a high priority on education and the creation of a skilled workforce" but notes that the high school drop-out rate is increasing. As well, Costa Rica would benefit from more courses in languages such as English, Portuguese, Mandarin, and French and also in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Costa Rica sources much of its energy from renewables and
869-453: A second plebiscite was called in the city of Nicoya. After deliberation, the incorporation into Costa Rica was decided in an open town hall meeting, preparing a record in which the main reasons for it were noted, pointing out the advantages in terms of trade, the desire to participate in the advances that are palpable in Costa Rica, the economic, administrative and public service benefits, the creation of schools, security and quiet, referring to
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#1732773053903948-422: A state must have satisfied the following criteria: An electoral democracy must have a score of 7 or more out of 12 in political rights subcategory A (Electoral Progress), an overall aggregate score of 20 in their political rights rating and an overall aggregate score of 30 in their civil liberties rating. Freedom House's term "electoral democracy" differs from " liberal democracy " in that the latter also implies
1027-499: A trade deficit of US$ 2.39 billion in 2015. Pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the prime industries in Costa Rica's economy. High levels of education among its residents make the country an attractive investing location. Since 1999, tourism earns more foreign exchange than the combined exports of the country's three main cash crops : bananas and pineapples especially, but also other crops, including coffee. Coffee production played
1106-868: A way to secure stability and growth. Costa Rica is a member of the International Criminal Court , without a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the United States military (as covered under Article 98 ). Costa Rica is an observer of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie . On 10 September 1961, some months after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, Costa Rican President Mario Echandi ended diplomatic relations with Cuba through Executive Decree Number 2 . This freeze lasted 47 years until President Óscar Arias Sánchez re-established normal relations on 18 March 2009, saying, "If we have been able to turn
1185-408: Is Lake Arenal . There are 14 known volcanoes in Costa Rica, and six of them have been active in the last 75 years. Costa Rica experiences a tropical climate year-round. There are two seasons. The dry season is December to April, and the rainy season is May to November. March and April are the hottest months in the country, while December and January are the coldest. However, there are rainy days in
1264-607: Is Intl$ 17,559.1. The growing debt and budget deficit are the country's primary concerns. A 2017 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that reducing the foreign debt must be a very high priority for the government. Other fiscal reforms were also recommended to moderate the budget deficit. Many foreign companies (manufacturing and services) operate in Costa Rica's Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives. Well over half of that type of investment has come from
1343-527: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Costa Rica Costa Rica ( UK : / ˌ k ɒ s t ə ˈ r iː k ə / , US : / ˌ k oʊ s t ə -/ ; Spanish: [ˈkosta ˈrika] ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica , is a country in the Central American region of North America . It borders Nicaragua to the north,
1422-704: Is an active member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States . The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations University of Peace are based in Costa Rica. It is also a member of many other international organizations related to human rights and democracy, such as the Community of Democracies . The main foreign policy objective of Costa Rica is to foster human rights and sustainable development as
1501-521: Is moderately high (8.2% in 2016, according to the IMF). Although 20.5% of the population lives below the poverty line (2017), Costa Rica has one of the highest standards of living in Central America. High-quality health care is provided by the government at a low cost to the users. Housing is also very affordable. Costa Rica is recognized in Latin America for the quality of its educational system,
1580-577: Is the general population" (Bollen and Paxton, p. 585). Political scientists Andrew T. Little and Anne Meng argued that the data produced by Freedom House and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project relies heavily on subjective, as opposed to objective, measures and thus are tainted by coder bias. Criticisms of the reception and uses of the Freedom in the World report have been noted by Diego Giannone: In "Political and ideological aspects in
1659-575: Is the one park in Costa Rica where all four Costa Rican monkey species can be found. These include the white-headed capuchin , the mantled howler , the endangered Geoffroy's spider monkey , and the Central American squirrel monkey , found only on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and a small part of Panama , and considered endangered until 2008, when its status was upgraded to vulnerable. Deforestation , illegal pet-trading, and hunting are
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#17327730539031738-528: Is undertaking reforestation projects to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007, the Costa Rican government announced the commitment for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. Costa Rica would be, according to its leaders, the first country in the world to have launched in 2019 a comprehensive decarbonization plan ( net zero carbon emissions by 2050). Costa Rica has free trade agreements with many countries, including
1817-530: The Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island . It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly 51,180 km (19,760 sq mi). An estimated 352,381 people live in the capital and largest city, San José , with around two million people in
1896-642: The Mexican Empire , and the Republicans, represented by the cities of San José and Alajuela who defended full independence. Because of the lack of agreement on these two possible outcomes, the first civil war of Costa Rica occurred. The Battle of Ochomogo took place on the Hill of Ochomogo , located in the Central Valley in 1823. The conflict was won by the Republicans and, as a consequence,
1975-616: The Viceroyalty of New Granada (i.e. Colombia ), and lack of resources such as gold and silver, made Costa Rica into a poor, isolated, and sparsely-inhabited region within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica was described as "the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America" by a Spanish governor in 1719. Another important factor behind Costa Rica's poverty was the lack of a significant indigenous population available for encomienda (forced labor), which meant most of
2054-487: The flag of Nicaragua but may not charge them for departure clearance from its ports. These were all specific items of contention brought to the court in the 2005 filing. In 2010, there was also a dispute around Isla Calero , and the effects of Nicaraguan dredging of the river in that area. On 1 June 2007, Costa Rica broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan , switching recognition to the People's Republic of China. Costa Rica
2133-553: The 1870s, the Costa Rican government contracted with U.S. businessman Minor C. Keith to build a railroad from San José to the Caribbean port of Limón . Despite enormous difficulties with construction, disease, and financing, the railroad was completed in 1890. Most Afro-Costa Ricans descend from Jamaican immigrants who worked in the construction of that railway and now make up about 3% of Costa Rica's population. U.S. convicts, Italians, and Chinese immigrants also participated in
2212-479: The Costa Rican settlers had to work on their land, preventing the establishment of large haciendas (plantations). For all these reasons, Costa Rica was, by and large, unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop on its own. The circumstances during this period are believed to have led to many of the idiosyncrasies for which Costa Rica has become known, while concomitantly setting
2291-543: The Party's population in favor of incorporation, and 23% against it. The town of Guanacaste was the only one that declined annexation, due to the ties its residents had with the city of Rivas, Nicaragua . Upon independence, Costa Rican authorities faced the issue of officially deciding the future of the country. Two bands formed: the Imperialists, defended by Cartago and Heredia cities , which were in favor of joining
2370-531: The Spanish language, was in some accounts first applied by Christopher Columbus , who sailed to the eastern shores of Costa Rica during his final voyage in 1502, and reported vast quantities of gold jewelry worn by natives. The name may also have come from conquistador Gil González Dávila , who landed on the west coast in 1522, encountered natives, and obtained some of their gold, sometimes by violent theft and sometimes as gifts from local leaders. During most of
2449-523: The U.S. According to the government, the zones supported over 82,000 direct jobs and 43,000 indirect jobs in 2015. Companies with facilities in the America Free Zone in Heredia, for example, include Intel, Dell, HP, Bayer, Bosch, DHL, IBM and Okay Industries. Of the 2016 GDP, 5.5% was generated by agriculture, 18.6% by industry and 75.9% by services. For the region, its unemployment level
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2528-565: The US (and probably from other countries). The major concerns identified were as follows: Costa Rica had 2.9 million foreign visitors in 2016, up 10% from 2015. In 2015, the tourism sector was responsible for 5.8% of the country's GDP, or $ 3.4 billion. In 2016, the highest number of tourists came from the United States, with 1,000,000 visitors, followed by Europe with 434,884 arrivals. According to Costa Rica Vacations, once tourists arrive in
2607-476: The US. There are no significant trade barriers that would affect imports and the country has been lowering its tariffs by other Central American countries. The country's Free Trade Zones provide incentives for manufacturing and service industries to operate in Costa Rica. In 2015, the zones supported over 82 thousand direct jobs and 43 thousand indirect jobs in 2015 and average wages in the FTZ were 1.8 times greater than
2686-436: The World as anecdotal and inconclusive; they raised issues needing further study by scientific methods rather than anecdotes. Bollen studied the question of ideological bias using multivariate statistics . Using their factor-analytic model for human-rights measurements, Bollen and Paxton estimate that Gastil's method produces a bias of -0.38 standard deviations (s.d.) against Marxist–Leninist countries and
2765-565: The World . Most are territories added in the 1978 report for 1977 and received their last coverage in the 2000 report of the same year. Other territories with differing dates are noted below. Their placements are based on their final rankings before ceasing coverage. Percentage of countries in each category, from the 1973 through 2021 reports: Not Free Partly Free Free Sources : Country Status and ratings overview 1973–2016, Number and percentages of electoral democracies 1989–2016, Freedom in
2844-508: The World 2018 report covering 2017. Notes : There is some debate over the neutrality of Freedom House and the methodology used for the Freedom in the World report, which has been written by Raymond Gastil and his colleagues. The neutrality and biases of human-rights indices have been discussed in several publications by Kenneth A. Bollen. Bollen wrote that "Considered together these criticisms suggest that some nations may have been incorrectly rated on Gastil's measures. However, none of
2923-486: The World Travel & Tourism Council's estimates indicated a direct contribution to the GDP of 5.1% and 110,000 direct jobs in Costa Rica; the total number of jobs indirectly supported by tourism was 271,000. A pioneer of ecotourism , Costa Rica draws many tourists to its extensive series of national parks and other protected areas. The trail Camino de Costa Rica supports this by allowing travelers to walk across
3002-473: The arrival of various groups of hunter-gatherers about 10,000 to 7,000 years BCE in the Turrialba Valley . The presence of Clovis culture type spearheads and arrows from South America opens the possibility that, in this area, two different cultures coexisted. Agriculture became evident in the populations that lived in Costa Rica about 5,000 years ago. They mainly grew tubers and roots. For
3081-750: The average for private enterprise work in the rest of the country. In 2016, Amazon.com for example, had some 3,500 employees in Costa Rica and planned to increase that by 1,500 in 2017, making it an important employer. The central location provides access to American markets and direct ocean access to Europe and Asia. The most important exports in 2015 (in order of dollar value) were medical instruments, bananas, tropical fruits, integrated circuits and orthopedic appliances. Total imports in that year were US$ 15 billion. The most significant products imported in 2015 (in order of dollar value) were refined petroleum, automobiles, packaged medications, broadcasting equipment, and computers. The total exports were US$ 12.6 billion for
3160-526: The border between the two countries, and Costa Rica's rights of navigation on the river. On 14 July 2009, the International Court of Justice in the Hague upheld Costa Rica's navigation rights for commercial purposes to subsistence fishing on their side of the river. An 1858 treaty extended navigation rights to Costa Rica, but Nicaragua denied passenger travel and fishing were part of the deal;
3239-557: The city of Cartago lost its status as the capital, which moved to San José . In 1838, long after the Federal Republic of Central America ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign. The considerable distance and poor communication routes between Guatemala City and the Central Plateau, where most of the Costa Rican population lived then and still lives now, meant
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3318-620: The colonial period, Costa Rica was the southernmost province of the Captaincy General of Guatemala , nominally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . In practice, the captaincy general was a largely autonomous entity within the Spanish Empire . Costa Rica's distance from the capital of the captaincy in Guatemala , its legal prohibition under mercantilist Spanish law from trade with its southern neighbor Panama, then part of
3397-475: The construction project. In exchange for completing the railroad, the Costa Rican government granted Keith large tracts of land and a lease on the train route, which he used to produce bananas and export them to the United States. As a result, bananas came to rival coffee as the principal Costa Rican export, while foreign-owned corporations (including the United Fruit Company later) began to hold
3476-603: The continent. Historians have classified the indigenous people of Costa Rica as belonging to the Intermediate Area , where the peripheries of the Mesoamerican and Andean native cultures overlapped. More recently, pre-Columbian Costa Rica has also been described as part of the Isthmo-Colombian Area . Stone tools, the oldest evidence of human occupation in Costa Rica, are associated with
3555-546: The country from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. In the 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index , Costa Rica ranked 44th in the world and second among Latin American countries after Mexico in 2011. By the time of the 2017 report, the country had reached 38th place, slightly behind Panama. The Ethical Traveler group's ten countries on their 2017 list of The World's Ten Best Ethical Destinations includes Costa Rica. The country scored highest in environmental protection among
3634-471: The country is the region's most stable. Costa Rica borders the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó , at 3,819 metres (12,530 ft). The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m or 11,257 ft) and the largest lake
3713-647: The country lacked a strong native civilization to begin with. Most of the native population was absorbed into the Spanish-speaking colonial society through inter-marriage, except for some small remnants, the most significant of which are the Bribri and Boruca tribes who still inhabit the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca , in the southeastern part of Costa Rica, near the frontier with Panama . The name la costa rica , meaning "rich coast" in
3792-482: The country's electricity came from renewable sources . In 2019, the country produced 99.62% of its electricity from renewable sources and ran completely on renewable sources for 300 continuous days. In 1996, the Forest Law was enacted to provide direct financial incentives to landowners for the provision of environmental services. This helped reorient the forestry sector away from commercial timber production and
3871-521: The country, 22% go to Tamarindo , 18% go to Arenal , 17% pass through Liberia (where the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport is located), 16% go to San José , the country's capital (passing through Juan Santamaría International Airport ), while 18% choose Manuel Antonio and 7% Monteverde. By 2004, tourism was generating more revenue and foreign exchange than bananas and coffee combined. In 2016,
3950-547: The country. Most of the coffee exported was grown around the main centers of population in the Central Plateau and then transported by oxcart to the Pacific port of Puntarenas after the main road was built in 1846. By the mid-1850s the main market for coffee was Britain. It soon became a high priority to develop an effective transportation route from the Central Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean. For this purpose, in
4029-493: The court ruled Costa Ricans on the river were not required to have Nicaraguan tourist cards or visas as Nicaragua argued, but, in a nod to the Nicaraguans, ruled that Costa Rican boats and passengers must stop at the first and last Nicaraguan port along their route. They must also have an identity document or passport. Nicaragua can also impose timetables on Costa Rican traffic. Nicaragua may require Costa Rican boats to display
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#17327730539034108-655: The criticisms have demonstrated a systematic bias in all the ratings. Most of the evidence consists of anecdotal evidence of relatively few cases. Whether there is a systematic or sporadic slant in Gastil's ratings is an open question" (Bollen, 1986, p. 586). The freedom index of Freedom in the World has a very strong and positive (at least an 80%) correlation with three other democracy-indices studied in Mainwaring (2001, p. 53). In his 1986 study, Bollen discussed reviews of measurements of human rights , including
4187-504: The development of first hypotheses. The internal consistency of the data series is open to question." On this topic, the Freedom House website replies that they have "made a number of modest methodological changes to adapt to evolving ideas about political rights and civil liberties. At the same time, the time series data are not revised retroactively, and any changes to the methodology are introduced incrementally in order to ensure
4266-541: The dry season, as well as weeks without rain in the wet season. Despite its size, Costa Rica is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity in all of Latin America . One national park, the Corcovado National Park , is internationally renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs ) and is where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife. Corcovado
4345-485: The exercise of freedom, according to Adam Przeworski , who gave the following example: In the United States, citizens are free to form political parties and to vote, yet even in presidential elections only half of U.S. "citizens" vote; in the U.S., "the same two parties speak in a commercially sponsored unison", wrote Przeworski (2003 , p. 277). More recent charges of ideological bias prompted Freedom House to issue this 2010 statement: Freedom House does not maintain
4424-668: The final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821), the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. That date is still celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica even though, technically, under the Spanish Constitution of 1812 that had been readopted in 1820, Nicaragua and Costa Rica had become an autonomous province with its capital in León . On March 3, 1824,
4503-607: The first and second millennia BCE there were already settled farming communities. These were small and scattered, although the timing of the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the main livelihood in the territory is still unknown. The earliest use of pottery appears around 2,000 to 3,000 BCE. Shards of pots, cylindrical vases, platters, gourds, and other forms of vases decorated with grooves, prints, and some modeled after animals have been found. The influence of indigenous peoples on modern Costa Rican culture has been relatively small compared to other nations since
4582-555: The government of the State of Costa Rica officially proposed to the municipality of Nicoya its voluntary incorporation into the country, through a document in which it invited it "if it was convenient to join its Province without going against its will." On July 4, an open town hall was convened in Nicoya to discuss the matter, but attendees declined the invitation under the argument "that this Party... cannot be dissident." On July 25, 1824,
4661-433: The index reported in Freedom in the World (Bollen, 1986, p. 585). Criticisms of Freedom in the World during the 1980s were discussed by Gastil (1990), who stated that "generally such criticism is based on opinions about Freedom House rather than detailed examination of survey ratings", a conclusion disputed by Giannone. The definition of Freedom in Gastil (1982) and Freedom House (1990) emphasized liberties rather than
4740-447: The late 19th century, however, Costa Rica has experienced two significant periods of violence. In 1917–1919, General Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a military dictator until he was overthrown and forced into exile. The unpopularity of Tinoco's regime led, after he was overthrown, to a considerable decline in the size, wealth, and political influence of the Costa Rican military. In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in
4819-500: The levels of political rights and civil liberties in each state and territory, on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Depending on the ratings, the nations are then classified as "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free". The report is often used by researchers in order to measure democracy and correlates highly with several other measures of democracy such as the Polity data series . The Freedom House rankings are widely reported in
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#17327730539034898-425: The local population had little allegiance to the federal government in Guatemala. Since colonial times, Costa Rica has been reluctant to become economically tied with the rest of Central America. Even today, despite most of its neighbors' efforts to increase regional integration, Costa Rica has remained more independent. Until 1849, when it became part of Panama , Chiriquí was part of Costa Rica. Costa Rican pride
4977-540: The main reasons for its threatened status. La Amistad and Chirripó present the climate of the páramo , at a height of more than 3000 meters above sea level, providing other types of flora and fauna, such as the white-nosed coati , the sooty thrush and Rogiera amoena . Costa Rica is the first tropical country to have stopped and reversed deforestation; it has successfully restored its forestry and developed an ecosystem service to teach biologists and ecologists about its environmental protection measures. The country had
5056-459: The measurement of democracy: the Freedom House case" (2010) which reviewed changes to the methodology since 1990, Diego Giannone concluded that "because of the changes in methodology over time and the strict interconnection between methodological and political aspects, the FH data do not offer an unbroken and politically neutral time series, such that they should not be used for cross-time analyses even for
5135-554: The media and used as sources by political researchers. Their construction and use has been evaluated by critics and supporters . The rankings are from the Freedom in the World 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 surveys, each report covering the previous year. The average of each pair of ratings on political rights and civil liberties determines the overall status of "Free" (1.0–2.5), "Partly Free" (3.0–5.0), or "Not Free" (5.5–7.0). An asterisk (*) indicates countries which are " electoral democracies ". To qualify as an "electoral democracy",
5214-498: The median of the region. It also performs well in comparisons of democratic governance , press freedom, subjective happiness and sustainable wellbeing . It has the 8th freest press according to the Press Freedom Index , it is the 35th most democratic country according to the Freedom in the World index, and it is the 23rd happiest country in the 2023 World Happiness Report . It is also a major tourist destination in
5293-572: The page with regimes as profoundly different to our reality as occurred with the USSR or, more recently, with the Republic of China, how would we not do it with a country that is geographically and culturally much nearer to Costa Rica?" Arias announced that both countries would exchange ambassadors. Costa Rica has a long-term disagreement with Nicaragua over the San Juan River , which defines
5372-440: The presence of a substantial array of civil liberties. In the survey, all Free countries qualify as both electoral and liberal democracies. By contrast, some Partly Free countries qualify as electoral, but not liberal, democracies. * indicates "Civil liberties in country or territory" or "Human rights in country or territory" links. PR = political rights, CL = civil liberties Former entries from Freedom in
5451-417: The resulting deforestation and helped create awareness of the services it provides for the economy and society (i.e., carbon fixation , hydrological services such as producing fresh drinking water, biodiversity protection, and provision of scenic beauty). A 2016 report by the U.S. government report identifies other challenges facing Costa Rica as it works to expand its economy by working with companies from
5530-452: The stage for Costa Rica's development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors. Costa Rica became a "rural democracy" with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil and a milder climate than that of the lowlands. Like the rest of Central America , Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain. On 15 September 1821, after
5609-516: The state of war that Nicaragua was experiencing at that time and the fear that it would spread to the Partido populations, in addition to point out the poverty in which its towns find themselves and the geography of the territory as justifications for the union. Three days later, another similar plebiscite was held in Santa Cruz , with the same result. The election was by majority vote, with 77% of
5688-401: The subsequent year. Costa Rica has developed a system of payments for environmental services . Similarly, Costa Rica has a tax on water pollution to penalize businesses and homeowners that dump sewage, agricultural chemicals , and other pollutants into waterways. In May 2007, the Costa Rican government announced its intentions to become 100% carbon neutral by 2021. By 2015, 93 percent of
5767-639: The surrounding metropolitan area. The sovereign state is a presidential republic . It has a long-standing and stable constitutional democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism . Many foreign manufacturing and services companies operate in Costa Rica's Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives. Costa Rica
5846-413: The wake of a disputed presidential election between Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (who had been president between 1940 and 1944) and Otilio Ulate Blanco . With more than 2,000 dead, the resulting 44-day Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in Costa Rica during the 20th century. The victorious rebels formed a government junta that abolished the military altogether and oversaw the drafting of
5925-530: The winners. Costa Rica began reversing deforestation in the 1990s, and they are moving towards using only renewable energy , with 93% of all its energy being renewable. Costa Rica is composed of seven provinces, which in turn are divided into 82 cantons (Spanish: cantón , plural cantones ), each of which is directed by a mayor. Mayors are chosen democratically every four years by each canton. There are no provincial legislatures. The cantons are further divided into 488 districts ( distritos ). Costa Rica
6004-450: Was assuaged for the loss of this eastern (or southern) territory with the acquisition of Guanacaste , in the north. Coffee was first planted in Costa Rica in 1808, and by the 1820s, it surpassed tobacco , sugar , and cacao as a primary export . Coffee production remained Costa Rica's principal source of wealth well into the 20th century, creating a wealthy class of growers, the so-called Coffee Barons. The revenue helped to modernize
6083-510: Was inhabited by indigenous peoples before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the First Mexican Empire , followed by membership in the Federal Republic of Central America , from which it formally declared independence in 1847. Following the brief Costa Rican Civil War in 1948, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only
6162-554: Was the first of the Central American nations to do so. President Óscar Arias Sánchez admitted the action was a response to economic exigency. In response, the PRC built a new, $ 100 million, state-of-the-art football stadium in Parque la Sabana , in the province of San José. Approximately 600 Chinese engineers and laborers took part in this project, and it was inaugurated in March 2011, with
6241-466: Was very strongly and positively correlated with the index of Adam Przeworski and with the index of the authors themselves: They evaluated Pearson's coefficient of linear correlation between their index and Freedom House's index, which was 0.82; among these indices and the two others studied, the correlations were all between 0.80 and 0.86 (Mainwaring et alia, 2001, p. 53). As previously quoted, Bollen criticized previous studies of Freedom in
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