HISTORY
In 1502, on his fourth and
last voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus made the first
European landfall in the area. Settlement of Costa Rica began
in 1522. For nearly three centuries, Spain administered the region
as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under a military
governor. The Spanish optimistically called the country "Rich
Coast." Finding little gold or other valuable minerals in Costa
Rica, however, the Spanish turned to agriculture.
The small landowners' relative
poverty, the lack of a large indigenous labor force, the population's
ethnic and linguistic homogeneity, and Costa Rica's isolation
from the Spanish colonial centers in Mexico and the Andes all
contributed to the development of an autonomous and individualistic
agrarian society. An egalitarian tradition also arose. This tradition
survived the widened class distinctions brought on by the 19th-century
introduction of banana and coffee cultivation and consequent accumulations
of local wealth.
Costa Rica joined other Central
American provinces in 1821 in a joint declaration of independence
from Spain. Although the newly independent provinces formed a
Federation, border disputes broke out among them, adding to the
region's turbulent history and conditions. Costa Rica's northern
Guanacaste Province was annexed from Nicaragua in one such regional
dispute. In 1838, long after the Central American Federation ceased
to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed
itself sovereign.
An era of peaceful democracy
in Costa Rica began in 1899 with elections considered the first
truly free and honest ones in the country's history. This began
a trend continued until today with only two lapses: in 1917-19,
Federico Tinoco ruled as a dictator, and, in 1948, Jose Figueres
led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election.
With more than 2,000 dead, the 44-day civil war resulting from this uprising was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history, but the victorious junta drafted a constitution guaranteeing free elections with universal suffrage and the abolition of the military. Figueres became a national hero, winning the first election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 14 presidential elections, the latest in 2006.
