Costa Rica Costa Rica History

Costa Rica was discovered by the western world when Christopher Columbus docked his boat in what is now Porto Limon in 1502. There was little mineral wealth in the area, however, and the country was left alone by the Spanish unlike many other nearby nations. It wasn’t until the mid-16th century that the Spanish began to set up permanent settlements in the country. For the next one hundred and fifty years, as the Indians were being decimated by European diseases, the only growth Costa Rica saw was though the few subsistence farmers that settled there. Little else. During Central American independence in the early 19th century, Costa Rica just accepted their fate and in 1824 voluntarily formed its own country from Nicaragua. Not long after, coffee production would transform the nation into the wealthiest in Central America and a former coffee grower, Juan Rafael Mora, would even become President for a ten-year period. Political instability and shoddy leaders have left their impact since, however, the country has fared far better than most of its neighbors governments. Although free health care is given to residents, high debt has left things such as badly needed environmental conservation on the back burner. It is also the only country in Central America without an army. Tourism is a huge draw these days. The country has avoided large-scale resorts, however, the many smaller, poorly managed hotels and tourist services have done little to help preserve the environment.