100 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
100 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
**Costa Rica**, officially the **Republic of Costa Rica** is a
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[liberal](Liberalism "wikilink"), [colonial](Colonialism "wikilink"),
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[capitalist](Capitalism "wikilink") [state](List_of_States "wikilink")
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located in Central America next to [Nicaragua](Nicaragua "wikilink") and
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[Panama](Panama "wikilink").
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## Positives
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- Costa Rica lacks a military, arguably making it the most peaceful
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country in Latin America. This also created political stability as
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it prevented the military from launching coups.
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- Costa Rica has the highest levels of life expectancy, education and
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human development in Latin America. It is considered higher than
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other countries at similar income levels.
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- Costa Rica also has progressive environmental policies. It is the
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only country to meet all five UNDP criteria established to measure
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environmental sustainability. It was identified by the NEF as the
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greenest country in the world in 2009. By 2019, 99.62% of its
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electricity was generated from green sources particularly hydro,
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wind, geothermal and solar.
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## History
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### Indigenous History
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Humans began to live in Costa Rica around 12,000 - 9,000 years ago,
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inhabited by nomadic family-based clans of foragers. Living off giant
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armadillos and sloths and vegetables. The area was sparsely populated by
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indigenous people compared to other areas.
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### Spanish Empire
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The [Spanish Empire](Spanish_Empire "wikilink") claimed Costa Rica in
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1502, and it was largely left as an undeveloped area of land. Of course,
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the Spanish Empire waged a brutal war of extermination against the
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indigenous population.
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### Independence
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Costa Rica joined in the Latin American Wars of Independence and broke
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free from the Spanish Empire in 1821 and became a part of the United
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Provinces of Central America (later called the Federal Republic of
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Central America) and became independent after a war in 1835, and became
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a [democratic republic in
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1847](Timeline_of_Representative_Democracy "wikilink") with universal
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male suffrage but remained extremely poor due to lack of infrastructure
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and industry. In 1856, the Costa Rican army attacked [William
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Walker's](William_Walker "wikilink") efforts to set up slave colonies in
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Nicaragua and defeated him.
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### Liberal State
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In 1870 the government was overthrown by
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[liberals](Liberalism "wikilink"), who abolished the [death
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penalty](Death_Penalty "wikilink"), [torture](torture "wikilink") and
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set presidential term limits to four years. However, the government
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engaged in religious persecution and attempted to be increasingly
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authoritarian while developing an export economy centered around the
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exporting of banana and coffee. However, the government later relaxed
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its religious persecution and allowed protestants and buddhists into the
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country. The country was modernised as railways were built, however, the
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United Fruit Company began to own most of the land and infrastructure in
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the country.
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### 20th Century
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In 1917, a military dictator rose in the country, but he fell in 1919.
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In 1921, Costa Rica invaded Panama to claim several towns and it won.
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But the liberal state entered crisis in 1929 with the [Great
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Depression](Great_Depression "wikilink"). The [Communist
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Party](Communist_Party_of_Costa_Rica "wikilink") led a workers' movement
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and several strikes and a welfare state was created as the government
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followed [Keynesian](Keynesian_Economics "wikilink") theory and built up
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their infrastructure. The reforms and political violence were extremely
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controversial and led to a bloody civil war that killed 2,000 people.
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The war was one by José Figueres Ferrer, a [social
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democrat](Social_Democracy "wikilink") who abolished the army to prevent
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another civil war. This meant Costa Rica was spared the fate of most
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Latin American countries in the 20th century which fell into brutal
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civil wars, dictatorships, invasions or rigged elections because of [US
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imperialism](Timeline_of_US_Imperialism "wikilink") as there was no army
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to turn against the government meaning a direct invasion was the only
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possible measure. The government also gave women rights to vote,
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nationalised banks, expanded the welfare state, outlawed the communist
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party, guaranteed public education, citizenship for immigrants and
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cracking down on government corruption. Although the governments support
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for the [Caribbean Legion](Caribbean_Legion "wikilink") was extremely
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controversial.
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The country entered a strange relationship with the USA, where it
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received some support from the CIA but did not assist in wars in
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neighbouring countries and retained progressive policies, notably
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expanding into environmental protection recently, being considered one
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of the most environmentally friendly countries in the world.
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## References
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[Costa Rica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica) at
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[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") |