Costa Rica - national flag
After becoming independent from Spain in 1821, Costa Rica became part of the
Central American Union in 1823, whose flag had stripes in the colors blue, white
and blue. In the following decades, different flags were adopted, though all
with the same colored stripes. At the dissolution of the union for approximately In
1840 the blue-and-white flag was retained, and in 1848 the red stripe was added
under the impression of the revolution in France the same year.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Costa Rica look like? Follow this link, then you will
see the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Costa Rica - History
Although the early Native American population of Costa Rica did not leave
large structures, the archaeological finds of pottery, stone, jade, and gold
testify to a high level of development.
On his fourth voyage in 1502, Columbus docked on the Caribbean coast and may
have given Costa Rica its name 'The Rich Coast'. Despite this, in colonial
times, Costa Rica was a poor and forgotten province that administratively
belonged to Guatemala. The isolation contributed to the development of a strong
sense of independence among the population.
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AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in
the world, such as CRI which represents the official name of Costa Rica.
In 1821, Costa Rica became independent from Spain. For a few years the
country was annexed to the Mexican Empire and then until 1838 a member of the
Central American Federal Republic; then it was declared an independent
republic. Coffee exports, which from approximately 1850 especially went to England,
formed the basis of state formation.

Presidents (elected) |
1848 |
José María Castro |
1848-1859 |
Juan Rafael Mora |
1859-1863 |
José María Montealegre |
1863-1866 |
Jesus Jimenez |
1866-1868 |
José María Castro |
1868-1870 |
Jesus Jimenez |
1870-1876 |
Tomás Guardia |
1877-1882 |
Tomás Guardia |
1882-1885 |
Próspero Fernández |
1885-1889 |
Bernardo Soto |
1890-1894 |
José Rodríguez |
1894-1902 |
Rafael Yglesias |
1902-1906 |
Esquivel Ascension |
1906-1910 |
Cleto González Víquez |
1910-1914 |
Ricardo Jiménez |
1914-1917 |
Alfredo González |
1917-1919 |
Frederico Tinoco |
1919-1920 |
Francisco Aguilar |
1920-1924 |
Julio Acosta |
1924-1928 |
Ricardo Jiménez |
1928-1932 |
Cleto González Víquez |
1932-1936 |
Ricardo Jiménez |
1936-1940 |
León Castro |
1940-1944 |
Calderón Guardia |
1944-1948 |
Teodoro Picado |
1948-1949 |
José Figueres |
1949-1953 |
Otilio Ulate |
1953-1958 |
José Figueres |
1958-1962 |
Mario Echandi |
1962-1966 |
Francisco Orlich |
1966-1970 |
José J. Trejos |
1970-1974 |
José Figueres |
1974-1978 |
Daniel Oduber |
1978-1982 |
Rodrigo Carazo |
1982-1986 |
Luis Alberto Monge |
1986-1990 |
Oscar Arias Sánchez |
1990-1994 |
Rafael A. Calderón F. |
1994-1998 |
José María Figueres Olsen |
1998-2002 |
Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria |
2002-2006 |
Abel Pacheco de la Espriella |
2006-2010 |
Oscar Arias Sánchez |
2010-2014 |
Laura Chincilla Miranda |
2014- |
Luis Guillermo Solís |
According to a2zgov, with the construction of a railway in the 1870's from the central highlands to Limón, American capital and the banana companies emerged. The coffee landowners
had to share power with these and thus see their legitimacy as rulers challenged
by smaller farmers. At the same time, fluctuations in international prices
ruined many small producers, and the concentration of land in fewer hands picked
up speed.
Among the landless farm workers and guest workers from Italy, Jamaica and
China on the banana plantations and at the railway construction, the germ of a
labor movement arose, which after the founding of the Communist Party in 1931
led to the first major strike in the region in 1934.
In the period 1940-1944, the Christian-Democratic President Rafael Ángel
Calderón Guardia (1900-1970) passed advanced social legislation with the support
of the Archbishop of the Catholic Church Víctor Manuel Sanabria (1898-1952) and
of Manuel Mora (1909-1994), Secretary General for the Communist Party.
At the 1948 election, there were certain irregularities, and José Figueres,
a young Social Democrat-oriented businessman, began an armed uprising to get the
election result respected.
He retained power as president for 18 months and with the new constitution in
1949 introduced a number of important reforms: decentralization of the state
apparatus, nationalization of the banking system (among other things to deprive
coffee owners of the monopoly on lending and to promote his own political
project on cultivation of new export crops and industrialization of the
country), the abolition of the army, etc. In 1953 he founded the PLN (National
Liberation Party).
Both Christian and Social Democratic legislation from the 1940's and 1950's
form the basis of modern Costa Rica. The country is thus a peaceful oasis
without major social tensions in the otherwise troubled Central America.
Until the 1950's, Costa Rica was relatively sparsely populated by a relatively
homogeneous, predominantly white population. The 1927 census shows that the
country had only 472,000 residents, of which less than 50,000 lived in the
capital San José.
With approximately 10 percent of the population today are immigrants, especially
refugees from neighboring countries; the large population growth is mainly due
to the improved economic and health conditions. The dominant classes were
therefore already from the middle of the last century foresighted enough to
promote education and qualification of the scarce and relatively expensive
labor. The elementary school became free, compulsory, and paid for by the state
as early as 1869.
This historical effort also explains the country's low illiteracy of less
than 10 percent and thus in line with major countries such as Chile and
Argentina. This has undoubtedly helped to spare the country from civil wars and
brutal dictatorships.
Presidential and parliamentary elections, which take place on the first
Sunday in February every four years, are true folk festivals that people go to
with their lives and souls. The electoral system is well organized and no
irregularities are detected. According to the current constitution, you can only
be elected president once in your life. Oscar Arias Sánchez, who was Social
Democratic president from 1986-1990, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his
efforts in the Central American peace negotiations.
Up through the 1990's, Social Democrats and bourgeois alternated to govern the
country. The Social Democratic Party PLN held power from 1986 to 1990 and 1994
to 1998, while the Party for Christian Social Unity, PUSC, held power from 1990
to 1994 and 1998 to 2002.
The Social Democratic president José María Figueres Olsen tried to fight
rising poverty during his reign from 1994 to 1998, but had to lay off people and
lower wages and pensions due to poor public finances.
Conservative President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (b. 1940), who held the post
from 1998 to 2002, set about privatizing state-owned enterprises and attracting
foreign capital.
In the 2002 election, Abel Pacheco (b. 1933) from PUSC won. In his election
campaign, Pacheco promised more efficiency and higher social welfare.
In the 2006 election, the popular Oscar Arias Sánchez was re-elected
president after an international career. At the 2010 election, Arias Sánchez was
replaced by Laura Chincilla Miranda of the PLN, who became the country's first
female president. In 2014, she was replaced by Luis Guillermo Solís from the
moderate left-wing PAC (Partido Acción Ciudadana - Citizens' Action
Party).
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