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COSTA RICA
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See also:COSTA RICA , a See also:republic of Central See also:America, bounded on the N. by See also:Nicaragua, E. by the Caribbean See also:Sea, S.E. and S.by See also:Panama, S.W., W. and N.W. by the Pacific Ocean. (For See also:map, see CENTRAL AMERICA.) The territory thus enclosed has an See also:area of about 18,5oo sq. m., and may be roughly described as an elevated tableland, intersected by lofty See also:mountain ranges, with their See also:main See also:axis trending from N.W. to S.E. It is fringed, along the coasts, by See also:low-lying marshes and lagoons, alternating with tracts of See also:rich See also:soil and wastes of See also:sand. See also:Physical Description.—The See also:northern frontier, See also:drawn 2 M. S. of the See also:southern shores of the See also:river See also:San Juan and of See also:Lake Nicaragua.. terminates at Salinas See also:Bay on the Pacific; its southern frontier skirts the valley of the Sixola or Tiliri, strikes See also:south-See also:east along the crests of the Talamanca Mountains as far as 9° N., and then turns sharply south, ending in Burica Point. The monotonous See also:Atlantic littoral is unbroken by any large inlet or See also:estuary, and thus contrasts in a striking manner with the varied outlines of the Pacific See also:coast, which includes the three bold promontories of Nicoya, Golfo Dulce and Burica, besides the broad sweep of Coronada Bay and several small harbours. The Gulf of Nicoya, a shallow landlocked inlet, containing a whole See also:archipelago of richly-wooded islets, derives its name from Nicoya, an See also:Indian See also:chief who, with his tribe, was here converted to See also:Christianity in the 16th See also:century. It is famous for its See also:purple-yielding murex, pearls and See also:mother-of-See also:pearl. The Golfo Dulce has an See also:average See also:depth of too fathoms and contains no islands. Two volcanic Cordilleras or mountain chains, separated from one another by the central See also:plateau of San Jose and See also:Cartago, See also:traverse the interior of Costa Rica, and See also:form a single See also:watershed, often precipitous on its Pacific slope, but descending more gradually towards the Atlantic, where there is a broad expanse of See also:plain in the See also:north-east. The more northerly range, in which volcanic disturbances on a See also:great See also:scale have been comparatively See also:recent, extends transversely across the See also:country, from a point a little south of Salinas Bay, to the headland of Carreta, the southern extremity of the Atlantic seaboard, also known as See also:Monkey Point. Its direction changes from south-east to east-south-east opposite to the entrance into the Gulf of Nicoya, where it is cut into two sections by a depression some 20 M. wide. At first it is rather a See also:succession of isolated volcanic cones than a continuous See also:ridge, the most conspicuous peaks being Orosi (5185 ft.), the four-crested Rincon de la Vieja (4500), Miravalles (4698) and Tenorio (6800). In this region it is known as the Sierra de Tilaran. Then succeed the Cerros de los See also:Guatusos, a highland stretching for more than 5o M. without a single See also:volcano. Poas (8895), the See also:scene of a violent eruption in 1834, begins a fresh See also:series of igneous peaks, some with flooded craters, some with a See also:constant See also:escape of See also:smoke and vapour. From Irazu (II,200), the culminating point of the range, both oceans and the whole of Costa Rica are visible; its See also:altitude exceeds that of Aneto, the highest point in the See also:Pyrenees, but so See also:gradual is its acclivity that the See also:summit can easily be reached by a See also:man on horseback. Turialba (1o,gro), adjoining Irazd on the east, was in eruption in 1866. Its name, though probably of Indian origin, is sometimes written Turrialba, and connected with the Latin Turris See also:Alba, " See also: Its chief right-See also:hand tributaries are the San See also:Carlos and Sarapiqui. The Reventazon, or Parismina, flows from the central plateau to the Caribbean Sea; despite the shortness of its valley, its See also:volume is considerable, owing to the prevalence of moist See also:trade-winds near its See also:sources. Six small streams and one large river, the Rio Frio, flow across the northern frontier into Lake Nicaragua. On the Pacific coast all the See also:rivers are rapid and liable to sudden floods. None is large, although three See also:bear the prefix Rio Grande, "great river." The Tempisque enters the Pacific at the See also:head of the Gulf of Nicoya, and tends to silt up that already shallow inlet (5-10 fathoms) with its alluvial deposits. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles also enters the gulf, and the Rio Grande de Pirris and Rio Grande de Terrabis or Diquis flow into Coronada Bay. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles rises See also:close to the Ochomogo Pass and the sources of the Reventazon, at the See also:base of Irani; and the headwaters of these two streams indicate precisely the depression in the central plateau which severs the northern from the southern mountains. Costa Rica is not differentiated from the neighbouring lands by any very marked peculiarities of See also:geological formation, or of plant and See also:animal See also:life. Its See also:geology, See also:flora and See also:fauna are therefore described under CENTRAL AMERICA (q.v.). See also:Climate.—Owing to the proximity of two oceans, and the varied configuration of the See also:surface of Costa Rica, an area of a few square See also:miles may exhibit the most striking extremes of climate; but, over the entire country, it is possible to distinguish three See also:climatic zones—tropical, temperate and See also:cold. These generally succeed one another as the altitude increases, although the See also:heat is greater at the same See also:elevation on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast. It is, however, less oppressive, as cool breezes prevail and See also:damp is comparatively rare. The tropical See also:zone comprises the coast and the foothills, and ranges, in its mean See also:annual temperature, from 72° F. to 82°. In the San Jose plateau (3000-500o ft.), which is the most densely populated portion of the temperate zone, the average is 68°, with an average variation for all seasons of only 5°. Above 7500 ft. frosts are frequent, but See also:snow rarely falls. The wet See also:season, lasting during the prevalence of the south-See also:west See also:monsoon, from See also:April to See also:December, is clearly defined on the Pacific slope. It is curiously interrupted by a fortnight of dry See also:weather, known as the Veranillo de San Juan, in See also:June. Towards the Atlantic the trade-winds may bring See also:rain in any See also:month. See also:Winter lasts from December to See also:February. The normal rainfall is about 8o in., but as See also:cloud-bursts are See also:common, it may rise to 150 in. or even more. See also:Rheumatism on the Atlantic seaboard, and See also:malaria on both coasts, are the commonest forms of disease; but, as a whole, Costa Rica is one of the healthiest of tropical lands. See also:Population.—In 1904, according to the See also:official returns, the See also:total population numbered 331340; having increased by more than one-See also:fourth in a See also:decade. See also:Spanish, with various modifications of See also:dialect, and the introduction of many Indian words, is the See also:principal See also:language; and the See also:majority of the inhabitants claim descent from the Spanish colonists—chiefly Galicians—who came hither during the 16th and subsequent centuries. The percentage of Spanish See also:blood is greater than in the other Central See also:American republics; but there is also a large population of See also:half-castes (ladinos or mestizos) due to intermarriage with native See also:Indians. The See also:resident foreigners, who are mostly Spaniards, Italians, Germans and See also:British subjects, numbered less than 8000 in 1904; See also:immigration is, however, encouraged by the easy terms on which See also:land can be See also:purchased from the See also:state. The native Indians, though exterminated in many districts, and civilized in others, remain in a See also:condition of See also:complete savagery along parts of the Nicaraguan border, where they are known as Prazos or Guatusos, in the Talamanca country and elsewhere. Their See also:numbers may be estimated at 4000. They are a quiet and in-offensive folk, who dwell in stockaded encampments, and preserve their ancestral language and customs. For an See also:account of See also:early Indian See also:civilization in Costa Rica, see CENTRAL AMERICA: See also:Archaeology. The See also:Mosquito Indians come every summer to See also:fish for turtle off the Atlantic coast. As only 200 negroes were settled in Costa Rica when See also:slavery was abolished in 1824, and no important increase ever took See also:place through immigration, the See also:black population is remarkably small, amounting only to some 1200. Chief Towns and Communications.—The whites are congregated in or near the chief towns, which include the See also:capital, San Jose (pop. 1904 about 24,500), the four provincial capitals of See also:Alajuela (486o), Cartago (4536), See also:Heredia (7151) and See also:Liberia or Guanacaste (2831), with the seaports of See also:Puntarenas (3569), 011 the Pacific, and See also:Limon (3171) on the Atlantic. These, with the exception of Heredia and Liberia, are described in See also:separate articles. The transcontinental railway from Limon to Puntarenas. was begun in 1871, and forms the See also:nucleus of a See also:system intended ultimately to connect all the fertile parts of the country, and to join the See also:railways of Nicaragua and Panama. It skirts the Atlantic coast as far as the small See also:port of Matina; thence it passes inland to Reventazon, and bifurcates to See also:cross the northern mountains; one See also:branch going north of Irazfl, while the other traverses the Ochomogo Pass. At San Jose these lines reunite, and the railway is continued to Alajuela, the small Pacific port of Tivives, and Puntarenas. The railways are owned partly by the state, partly by the Costa Rica railway See also:company, which, in 1904, arranged to build several branch lines through the See also:banana districts of the Atlantic littoral. Apart from the main lines of communication the roads are very rough, often See also:mere tracks; and the principal means of transport are ox-carts or See also:pack-mules. The postal and telegraphic services are also somewhat inadequate.
See also:Agriculture and See also:Industries.—The name " Costa Rica," meaning " rich coast," is well deserved; for, owing to the See also:combination of ample See also:sunshine and moisture with a wonderfully fertile soil, almost any See also:kind of See also:fruit or See also:flower can be successfully cultivated; while the vast tracts of virgin See also:forest, which remain along the Atlantic slopes, contain an abundance of See also:cedar, See also:mahogany, See also:rosewood, See also:rubber and See also:ebony, with See also:fustic and other See also:precious dye-See also:woods. The country is essentially agricultural, and owes its See also:political stability to the presence of a large class of See also:peasant proprietors, who number more than two-thirds of the population. See also:Coffee, first planted in 1838, is grown chiefly on the plateau of San Jose. The See also:special adaptability of this region to its growth is attributed to the nature of the soil, which consists of layers of black or dark-See also: At the beginning of the 20th century the silver and copper mines had been abandoned. The goldfields are exploited with American capital, and yield a See also:fair return.
See also:Commerce.-The exports, which comprise coffee, bananas, cocoa, See also:cabinet-woods and dye-woods, with hides and skins, mother-of-pearl, See also:tortoiseshell and gold, were officially valued at £1,398,000 in 1904; and in the same See also:year the imports, including foodstuffs, dry goods and hardware, were valued at £1,229,000. Over £1,250,000 See also:worth of the exports consisted of coffee and bananas, and these commodities were of almost equal value. Nearly 85 % of the coffee, or more than 20,000,000 lb, were sent to Great See also:Britain. The development of the banana trade See also:dates from 1881, when 3500 bunches of fruit were exported to New See also: Almost the whole See also:foreign trade passes through Limon and Puntarenas. In 1904, exclusive of banana steamers, there were See also:regular steamship services weekly from Limon to the United States and Germany, fortnightly to Great Britain, and monthly to See also:France, See also:Italy and See also:Spain; while at Puntarenas four American liners called monthly on the voyage between San Francisco and Panama.
See also:Finance.—The valuable resources of the republic, and its See also:comparative See also:immunity from revolution, formerly attracted the See also:attention of See also:European and American investors, who supplied the capital for See also:internal development. In 1871 the See also:government contracted aloanof £1,00o,000in See also:London, and in 1872 it borrowed an additional £2,400,000 for railway construction. The outstanding foreign See also:debt amounted in 1887 to £2,691,300, while the arrears of See also:interest were no less than L2,119,500. An arrangement with the creditors was concluded in 1888; but in 1895 the republic again became bankrupt, and a fresh arrangement was sanctioned in See also: On the 25th of April 1900 a See also:law was enacted for the regulation of the constitution, capital, See also:note emission and metallic reserves of banks. On the 24th of See also:October 1896 an See also:act was passed for the See also:adoption of a gold coinage, and the See also:execution of this act was decreed on the 17th of April 1900. The monetary unit is the gold See also:colon weighing •778 gramme, .900 See also:fine, and thus worth about 23d. It is legally See also:equivalent to the silver peso, which continues in circulation. The gold coins of the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany are legally current. The metric system of weights and See also:measures was introduced by law in 1884, but the old Spanish system is still in use. Constitution and Government.—Costa Rica is governed under a constitution of 187o, which, however, only came into force in 1882, and has often been modified. The legislative See also:power resides in a See also:House of Representatives, consisting of about 30 to 40 deputies, or one for every 8000 inhabitants. The deputies are chosen for aterm of four years by local electoral colleges, whose members are returned by the votes of all self-supporting citizens. One-half of the chamber retires automatically every two years. The See also:president and three See also:vice-presidents constitute the executive. They are assisted by a cabinet of four ministers, representing the departments of the interior, See also:police and public See also:works; foreign affairs, See also:justice, See also:religion and education; finance and commerce; See also:war and marine. For purposes of local See also:administration the state is divided into five provinces, Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia and San Jose, and two maritime districts (comarcas), Limon and Puntarenas. All these divisions except Guanacaste —which takes its name from a variety of See also:mimosa very common in the province—are synonymous with their chief towns; and each is controlled by a See also:governor or See also:prefect appointed by the president. Justice is administered by a supreme See also:court, two courts of See also:appeal, and the court of cassation, which sit in San Jose, and are supplemented by various inferior tribunals.
Religion and Education.—The See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also: On a war footing these forces would number about 36,000. A gunboat and a See also:torpedo See also:boat constitute the See also:navy, which, however, requires the services of an See also:admiral, subordinate to the See also:ministry of marine.
See also:History.—The origin of the name Costa Rica (Spanish for " Rich Coast ") has been much disputed. It is often stated that the territories to which the name is now applied were first known as Nueva Cartago, while Costa Rica was used in a wider sense to designate the whole south-western coast of the Caribbean Sea, from the supposed See also:mineral See also:wealth of this region. Then, in 1540, the name was restricted to an area approximately equal to that of See also:modern Costa Rica. In such a See also:case it must have been bestowed ironically, for the country proved very unprofitable to the gold-seekers, who were its earliest European settlers. See also:Col. Church, in the See also:paper cited below, derives it from Costa de Oreja, " Earring Coast," in allusion to the earrings worn by the Indians and remarked by their conquerors. He quotes See also:evidence to show that this name was known to 16th-century cartographers.
With the See also:rest of Central America, Costa Rica remained a See also:province of the Spanish captaincy-See also:general of See also:Guatemala until 1821. Its See also:conquest was completed by 1530, and ten years later it was made a separate province, the limits of which were fixed, by order of See also: The Indians were enslaved, and their welfare was wholly subordinated to the quest for gold. From 1666 onwards both coasts were ravaged by pirates, who completed the ruin of the country. Diego de la Haya y See also:Fernandez, governor in 1718, reported to the See also:crown that no province of Spanish America was in so wretched a condition. Cocoa-beans were the current coinage. Tomas de See also:Acosta, governor from 1797 to 1809, confirmed this See also:report, and stated
that the Indians were clothed in bark, and compelled in many cases to See also:borrow even this See also:primitive attire when the law required their attendance at church.
On the 15th of See also:September 1821 Costa Rica, with the other Central American provinces, revolted and joined the Mexican See also:empire under the See also:dynasty of See also:Iturbide; but this subjection never became popular, and, on the See also:establishment of a Mexican republic in 1823, hostilities See also:broke out between the Conservatives, who desired to maintain the See also:union, and the Liberals, who wished to set up an See also:independent republic. The opposing factions met near the Ochomogo Pass; the republicans were victorious, and the seat of government was transferred from Cartago, the old capital, to San Jose, the Liberal headquarters. From 1824 to 1839 Costa Rica joined the newly formed Republic of the United States of Central America; but the authority of the central government proved little more than nominal, and the Costa Ricans busied themselves with trade and abstained from politics. The exact political status of the country was not, however, definitely assured until 1848, when an independent republic was again proclaimed. In 1856-6o the state was involved in war with the adventurer See also: Barrios, president of Guatemala, to restore federal unity to Central America failed in 1885, and had little influence on Costa Rican affairs. In 1897 the state joined the Greater Republic of Central America, established in 1895 by See also:Honduras, Nicaragua and See also:Salvador, but dissolved in 1898. The boundary question between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was referred to the See also:arbitration of the president of the United States, who gave his See also:award in 1888, confirming a treaty of 1858; further difficulties arising from the work of demarcation were settled by treaty in 1896. The boundary between Costa Rica and Panama (then a province of See also:Colombia) was fixed by the arbitration of the See also:French president, who gave his award on the 15th of September 1900. The frontiers de-limited in accordance with these awards have already been described. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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