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Costa Rica Information
Ministry and Life
Spanish Language Institute
Our time in Costa Rica focused on learning Spanish. We will also spent time involved in learning more about the culture of Latin America. We had the opportunity to visit a number of natural wonders of the country. Two active volcanoes, several waterfalls and a couple of beautiful beaches. We also learned how coffee is processed by visiting a coffee plantation.
In Costa Rica we attended the Brazos de Amor Wesleyan Church. It was quite a trip each Sunday via two buses. It usually took an hour to get to church.
Perry was able to preach several times in different churches and presented a seminar on Evaluation and Planning for Missions at the Brazos de Amor church. He was able to do this in Spanish.
We stayed with Marieolos, she is a widow and graciously rented a room to us while we are living in Costa Rica. This is part of the schools immersion language learning program. They find host families for students to live to further assist them in learning the language and becoming better acquainted with the culture and life in Costa Rica. We had a great time getting to know the family and becoming part of their routine. We were sad to leave. As part of our farewell we hired a mariachi band and celebrated birthdays of several members of the family.
Country Background
Geography
Area: 51,100 sq. km (19,730 sq. mi.) about the size of the states of Vermont
and New Hampshire combined.
Cities: Capital--San Jose (greater metropolitan area pop. 2.1
million, the greater metropolitan area as defined by the Ministry of
Planning and Economic Policy includes the cities of Alajuela, Cartago, and
Heredia). Other major cities outside the San Jose capital area--Puntarenas,
Limon, and Liberia.
Terrain: A rugged, central range separates the eastern and western coastal
plains.
Climate: Mild in the central
PEOPLE
Unlike many of their Central American neighbors, present-day Costa Ricans
are largely of European rather than mestizo descent; Spain was the primary
country of origin. However, an estimated 10% to 15% of the population is
Nicaraguan, of fairly recent arrival and primarily of mestizo origin.
Descendants of 19th-century Jamaican immigrant workers constitute an
English-speaking minority and--at 3% of the population--number about
119,000. Few of the native Indians survived European contact; the indigenous
population today numbers about 29,000 or less than 1% of the population.
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Costa Rican(s).
Population (2007 est.): 4.13 million.
Annual growth rate (2007 est.): 1.41%.
Ethnic groups: European and some mestizo 94%, African origin 3%, Chinese 1%,
Amerindian 1%, other 1%.
Religion: Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%,
other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2%.
Languages: Spanish, with a southwestern Caribbean Creole dialect of English
spoken around the Limon area.
HISTORY
In 1502, on his fourth and last voyage to the New World, Christopher
Columbus made the first European landfall in the area. Settlement of Costa
Rica began in 1522. For nearly three centuries, Spain administered the
region as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under a military
governor. The Spanish optimistically called the country "Rich Coast."
Finding little gold or other valuable minerals in Costa Rica, however, the
Spanish turned to agriculture.
The small landowners' relative poverty, the lack of a large indigenous labor force, the population's ethnic and linguistic homogeneity, and Costa Rica's isolation from the Spanish colonial centers in Mexico and the Andes all contributed to the development of an autonomous and individualistic agrarian society. An egalitarian tradition also arose. This tradition survived the widened class distinctions brought on by the 19th-century introduction of banana and coffee cultivation and consequent accumulations of local wealth.
Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in 1821 in a joint declaration of independence from Spain. Although the newly independent provinces formed a Federation, border disputes broke out among them, adding to the region's turbulent history and conditions. Costa Rica's northern Guanacaste Province was annexed from Nicaragua in one such regional dispute. In 1838, long after the Central American Federation ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign.
An era of peaceful democracy in Costa Rica began in 1899 with elections considered the first truly free and honest ones in the country's history. This began a trend continued until today with only two lapses: in 1917-19, Federico Tinoco ruled as a dictator, and, in 1948, Jose Figueres led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election.
With more than 2,000 dead, the 44-day civil war resulting from this uprising was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history, but the victorious junta drafted a constitution guaranteeing free elections with universal suffrage and the abolition of the military. Figueres became a national hero, winning the first election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 14 presidential elections, the latest in 2006.
GOVERNMENT
Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a very strong system of
constitutional checks and balances. Executive responsibilities are vested in
a president, who is the country's center of power. There also are two vice
presidents and a 15-member cabinet. The president and 57 Legislative
Assembly deputies are elected for 4-year terms. In April 2003, the Costa
Rican Constitutional Court annulled a 1969 constitutional reform which had
barred presidents from running for reelection. As a result, the law reverted
back to the 1949 Constitution, which permits ex-presidents to run for
reelection after they have been out of office for two presidential terms, or
eight years. Deputies may run for reelection after sitting out one term, or
four years. In the third quarter of 2007, the country is scheduled to hold
its first national referendum, on the U.S.-Central American-Dominican
Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).
Map of Costa Rica
Flag of Costa Rica
Copyright © Perry J. Hubbard