Costa Rica

Before the Spanish, the territory lay where Mesoamerican and Chibchan worlds met: Chorotega farmers in Guanacaste, and Huetar, Bribri, Cabécar and Boruca peoples in the valleys and south. The stone spheres of the Diquís delta and the gold work in San José's museum come from these societies.

The Spanish found little gold and few people to tax. Cartago, founded in 1563, stayed a poor provincial capital under Guatemala, and settlers farmed small plots themselves — a history later used to explain the country's egalitarian self-image, though Indigenous people were displaced and enslaved Africans were brought to the Caribbean and Pacific.

Independence came with the rest of Central America in 1821. Coffee changed everything from the 1830s: exports to Britain made a coffee elite, paid for the Teatro Nacional (1897) and moved the capital to San José. To reach Atlantic ports, a railway to Limón was built in 1871–90 by Minor Keith, using Jamaican and Chinese labour, and bananas planted beside it grew into the United Fruit Company.

In 1948 a disputed election led to a short civil war. The winner, José Figueres, abolished the army, nationalised banks, gave women and Afro-Costa Ricans full voting rights and founded the Second Republic. Stable elections have followed ever since, and Óscar Arias won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for the Central American peace plan.

Costa Rica has about 5.2 million people, most in the Central Valley around San José, Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago. They call themselves Ticos, from the habit of adding '-tico' to words, and 'pura vida' has become a national catchphrase.

The Caribbean province of Limón has a large Afro-Caribbean community descended from Jamaican railway and banana workers. Until 1949 they were largely denied citizenship and discouraged from moving to the Central Valley; English Creole, calypso, rice and beans in coconut milk and Protestant churches mark the coast today.

Eight Indigenous peoples live mostly in reserves in the south and on the Talamanca slopes. The Bribri and Cabécar are the largest groups; some communities offer cacao and forest tours.

Nicaraguan migrants are a large part of the workforce in farming, construction and domestic work, and tension over migration is a recurring political theme.

Everyday food is modest and filling. Breakfast is gallo pinto with eggs and natilla (sour cream); lunch at a soda is the casado — rice, beans, salad, plantain and a protein — and Salsa Lizano, a tangy brown sauce, goes on almost everything.

Coffee grown on the volcanic slopes of Tarrazú, the West Valley and Naranjo is mostly exported; at home it is brewed through a cloth sock on a wooden stand, the chorreador.

The Caribbean coast cooks differently: rice and beans in coconut milk, rondón stew, patí turnovers, ginger drinks and jerk-style chicken show its Jamaican roots. Guanacaste keeps maize-based dishes from its Chorotega heritage.

Costa Rica covers about 0.03% of the world's land but holds an estimated 5% of its species, thanks to its position as a land bridge between the continents and its range from sea level to 3,800 m on Chirripó.

A volcanic spine runs down the centre: Arenal erupted in 1968 and was active until 2010, Poás and Rincón de la Vieja vent gas and ash, and Irazú overlooks Cartago. Cloud forest caps the ridges at Monteverde; lowland rainforest covers Osa and the Caribbean plains; Guanacaste has tropical dry forest.

By the 1980s cattle ranching had cut forest cover to around a quarter of the country. Payments to landowners for environmental services, a ban on clearing and the tourism boom helped it recover to over half. Around a quarter of the land is now protected, and almost all electricity comes from renewables.

Tourism grew from a few scientists and birders in the 1970s to more than 2.5 million visitors a year. Research stations such as La Selva and Monteverde's Quaker-founded reserve drew the first visitors, and the national park system (SINAC) became the country's main attraction.

The model has limits. Manuel Antonio caps daily numbers and sells tickets online only; Corcovado requires guides; turtle beaches restrict night visits. Coastal building in Guanacaste has strained water supplies, and prices now rival North America.

Visitors pay for the system through park fees, guide fees and taxes, and the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) rates hotels. Choosing certified guides and staying on trails is the practical side of the story.

The country remains one of the most stable democracies in Latin America, but it faces new strains: the cost of living, pressure on public health and education budgets, and a sharp rise in homicides linked to drug trafficking through Caribbean ports since 2022.

For visitors, the practical picture is good: 911 works, private hospitals are strong, roads are slow but mapped on Waze, and parks are well managed. Car break-ins remain the most common problem, and rental insurance rules catch many first-timers.

Travel in the green season is cheaper and quieter; the Caribbean side is often at its best exactly when the Pacific is wettest.