A Snapshot of Costa Rica's History

Archaeological discoveries suggest that several civilizations existed on Costa Rican land long before they were discovered by the Western world.  Evidence of stone tool making linked to as a far back as 7,000-10,000 B.C. discovered by the Reventazon River in 2016 suggests the past presence of at least two distinct hunter-gatherer cultures. At the Guayabo archaeological site in the Turrialba valley in eastern Cartago province are stone-paved streets, aqueducts, carved stone designs, and illustrations of animals dating back to 1400 A.D.-1000 B.C.  A variety of jewelry and tools have been discovered at other archaeological sites around the country.  

Artifact from Guayabo

Brick Road at Guayabo

When the Spaniards arrived, there were purported to be at least 25 indigenous groups with a total estimated population around 20,000, such as the Caribs, the Borucas, the Nahuatl, the Chibchas, and the Diquis among others.  These groups encountered the Western world in 1502 when Christopher Columbus made landfall on Costa Rica during his fourth and final voyage to the “new world.”  Indigenous people, adorned with precious gems and metals, were said to have warmly greeted Columbus and his men by the shore.  Columbus was so awestruck by the apparent wealth that he called the land Costa Rica, or  “rich coast.”  In a journal entry, Columbus noted that in two days, he had seen more gold than four years spent in Spain. Another school of thought maintains that it was Spaniard Gil Gonzales Davila who coined the term “Costa Rica” in 1520.

As word of abundant natural wealth spread, it peaked the interest of many aspiring explorers who wanted to share in the assumed abundance of gold.  Upon their arrival on the shore, however, they didn’t find much gold, but rather a nice climate and lots of land to farm.  While the coastal lowlands were considered too inhospitable to cultivate, the Central Valley proved to be conducive to a laborious life of farming.  

A difference in opinion on whether Costa Rica should join Mexico or be its own independent country held by Imperialists and Republicans sparked a conflict that included the Battle of Ochomogo in April of 1823.  Won by the Republicans, the country became a state that was part of the Central American Federation.  When the Republic of Central America collapsed in 1838, Costa Rica was recognized as an independent country for the first time.  Moving into the 20^th century, after a brief dictatorship in the late 1910s, Costa Rica experienced another civil war in 1948 whose outcome set Costa Rica on its modern course.

 

Modern Day Costa Rica can be broken up into seven provinces: San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Puntarenas, Guanacaste, and Limón.  It is divided further into 81 cantons and 463 districts.  Quepos, where I will be staying for the first two months abroad, is part of Guanacaste province.  I will then be staying in the capital city San José for the following 6 weeks, which has its own province.  

         San José, located 3,800 feet above sea level, was first settled in 1736 and was known then by the name of Villa Nueva ("New Village").  During the Spanish Colonial era in the 1800s, it served as a center for tobacco and coffee production, boosting the country’s economic infrastructure.  The coffee industry in particular brought hope to an otherwise poverty-stricken and downtrodden country with a past of violence and subsequent neglect.  The economic boom made it possible for the city to build fine buildings, libraries, plazas, and museums, whose presence improved the standard of living for prospective residents.  It also allowed the city to have the funds to build the Teatro Nacional (a beautiful three-story Renaissance-style theatre), which is still one of the city’s most popular attractions today.