Get To Know Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful land filled with a rich history, culture, and people. Costa Rica was thought of as just a backwater colony during its days under Spanish rule. Many events have led up to and culminated the country and people of Costa Rica we know today. The main population of Costa Rica in its early days was comprised of small landowners harvesting tobacco and cacao. Even today tobacco and cacao are major exports for Costa Rica as well as bananas that become more prevalent later on. One major misconception about Costa Rica is its population. Being located in the Caribbean most people believe that their entire population is of Spanish descent. In the 1800's the construction of railroads led to a stream of Italian, Jamaican, and Chinese workers. Limon today still has a big population of Italian, Jamaican, and Chinese descent and Costa Rica stands out as a major immigrant attraction. Many people outside of the Caribbean especially the west believe that the Caribbean is made up of a bunch of third-world countries that can't get anything done and this couldn't be further from the truth. Oscar Arias Sanchez, the former president of Costa Rica, organized a peace movement to end guerilla warfare. Not only that but they also disbanded their military. Not only dose this put misconceptions like that to rest further backs Costa Rica's virtues of peace and non-violence. The topic that interests me the most is the pre comlumbian civilization of Costa Rica. It is thought to have the oldest civilization in Central America. The culture and history they had must have been really captivating and I will be sure to do my own research on them. As the Ticos and Ticas say, Pura Vida! One topic I am thinking about for my research project is enviormental conservstion in the carribean and the different religions.

Sources JoAnneHarris,virtualcaribbeanlibrary.com,JoAnneHarris MonicaQuesda,CostaRica:ThePeopleandTheirCulture,MonicaQuesda,Febuary28th,2020,costaricaexplorations.org Costarica.org