Major FAQ-Costa Rica
More About Costa Rica
Culture and Religion
The official religion in Costa Rica is Christianity, more specifically, Roman Catholic. The religious affiliation is mostly followed as custom, through baptisms, communion, weddings and funerals. The Roman Catholic religion is a demonstration of Costa Rica 's Spanish history. The country is a Spanish conquest that maintains the language and religion of Spain .
The most definitive aspect of the Costa Rica culture is their devotion to getting along. They begin and end every conversation with greetings and compliments and maintain good ground at all costs, with everyone.
The culture is family oriented. Most Costa Rican's have their most intimate friendships with other family members. People in the higher classes have more opportunities to have relationships outside of their families. The people of Costa Rica identify as part of their family, as a Costa Rican and as a world citizen. Traditional roles are maintained in Costa Rican families, for the most part, men enjoy more freedom than women, reflecting the machismo of the larger society.
History
By the early 1800's, the Spanish empire had been weakened because of a French invasion of Spain . In August of 1821 Mexico declared independence, inspired by this, Guatemala unilaterally declared independence for all of Central America . Costa Rica has never had an army, but they rallied enough men to fight off the final grasp by Spain and gain their independence in 1823.
Coffee became King. It became the countries major crop. People willing to grow coffee were given free land to work on and the government further assisted its flourishing by constructing roads to transport harvests to the markets. The people who became wealthy by growing coffee were not able to touch the top, but gained some political influence. They used this influence and financed improvements in Costa Rican education and public works.
Democracy began to appear in Costa Rica in the 1920's and 1930's. General Tomas Guardia Gutierrez contributed many things to Costa Rica during his presidency, mainly a railroad projects that allowed new exports and attracted foreign business. The wealthy foreign investors started banana plantations along the railways run mostly by American businessmen.
The 1948 election was the most divisive in election history and led to a civil war due to political and civil unrest. The resolution of the war led into the modern period of a temporary ruling junta which governed only a brief period. A new constitution was adopted in 1949 by an elected constituent assembly and the government was handed over, from the junta to a new president and Legislative Assembly.
The 1980's were characterized by political and military conflicts, wars flared up in Nicaragua and El Salvador , with ongoing warfare in Guatemala . The crisis was ended in the late 80's and the new president found some successes in leading Costa Rica .
Geography
Costa Rica borders Nicaragua in the North. It has a shared border with Panama to the southeast and both the west and east boarders are shoreline, the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The interior is a highland of continuous mountain ranges with several active volcanoes.
Cuisine
Costa Rican cuisine relies heavily on starches and red meat, although the ingredients vary according to social class and urban or rural residence. Rice, beans, plantains, and potatoes are the staples. Like many Latin American countries, sweet pastries, breads, and cakes are very popular. The food is good tasting and seasoned without being overly spicy. Food is seasoned with a mixture of dry spices and sauces that give it a Costa Rican flavor. Some of the most common spices include fresh coriander and jalapeno chili peppers. There are many food in Costa Rica's palate that are Spanish in origin, a classic beef stew and vegetable stew, also a common breakfast plate known as Gallo Pinto.
There is also information about Atenas at www.atenasonline.com which has a lot of demographic information. |
