Costa Rica, the Rich Coast
Although the name Costa Rica means rich coast, Spain considered colonial Costa Rica the poorest colony in the Americas. With little native population to enslave into forced labor and no mineral wealth to bankroll the importation of slaves, Costa Rican settlers worked the rich volcanic soil themselves, developing resilient and independent farming communities that laid the groundwork for a robust rural democracy. They gained independence from Spain in 1821, but had long before been left to govern themselves as Spain had little interest in the ‘poor’ colony.
Independence allowed Costa Rica to modernize their economy well before their neighbors. Always progressive, the capital San José was the third city in the world to have public electric lighting. Today, 95% of
Costa Ricans have electricity and telephones. Ninety-six percent can read and write. As the superpowers built nuclear stockpiles, Costa Rica totally abolished their army in 1949. The ‘Happy Planet Index,’ a combined measure of environment impact and human well-being, ranks Costa Rice # 1 among the nations of the world.
One fourth of all lands in Costa Rica are National Parks and protected areas. It is ranked as the ‘greenest country in the world’, and has a plan to become the first carbon neutral country by the year 2021. The ‘Environment Performance Index’ ranks Costa Rica # 1 among nations of the Western Hemisphere. The country has greater species density that any country on the planet, containing 0.25% of the land and 5% of the biodiversity. Although approximately the size of West Virginia, more bird species live in Costa Rica than the continental United States and Canada combined.
Costa Ricans are rightfully proud of their democracy, literacy, universal health care, stewardship of their unique natural environment, and of the lives they have made for themselves in this small corner of the earth.
