Figure 1.--This is a scene from the center of San José, the capitalin the early-20th century. Note that there is electricity, but not a motor vehicle in sight and this is the center of the city. Also note the oxcart. It has an all wooden wheel, rather than spokes, that may speak to extremely rough roads. We are not sure what the building is, perhaps the Legislative Assembly. A new building was built in the 1930s. Click on the image for a blowup of the boys and cart.

The pre-Colombia economy was primarily hunter gathering by primitive Native American tribes. The modern territory of Costa Rica was beyond the extent of the Maya to the north. There are no important Mayan sites in Costa Rica. There mut have been, however, trade connections. The name Costa Rica means 'rich coast' in Spanush. However most of the country's population don't live near the coast. The coast of Central America was the Columbus' first land fall on the mainland of the Americas. The name was based on the Spanish seeing gold jewerly being worn by the the natives they spotted along the coast. Costa Rica was the first Central American country to achieve a modicum of stability. In this, Costa Rica is different than much of Centra America which has been relected in the economy. The economy as in other Central American countries has been based on agricultural commodities. Coffee is especially important. Since World War II, tourism has become increasingly important along with foreign retirees. Here stability is an important factor. Unlike many other Latin American countries, Costa Rica does not have importnt natural resources like oil or metals. Tourism has become an importnt part of the country's economy. Among the activities that tourists enjoy is whale watching. They are also attracted by the country's biodiversity, in part because of the large protected areas. Costa Rica is a very small country. It has just about 0.1 percent of the world's total area, but 5 percent of the biodiversity. Costa Rica is an imprtnt exporter of agricultural products, especially bananas and coffee. Despite the country's small area, it accounts for 10 percent of the total exports of banana worldwide. That is the second place just behind Ecuador, another small country. Costa Rica is also the biggest producer of pinapple worldwide. Costa Rica is developing a mixed economy. It is one of the world's biggest producer of medical equipment, specially body prothesis. Several companies of the industry like St Jude Medical, Boston Scientific, among others manufacture their products here which are then exported to the rest of the world. Since the Great Recession 2010, Costa Rica has impressiveif not spectacular economic growth, 3.8 percent (2017). The masjor exports are still bananas, coffee, sugar, and beef. Exports of industrial and processed agricultural products are diversifying export shipments to include value-added goods. A bright spot is medical devices. Costa Rica's impressive biodiversity also makes it a key destination for ecotourism. Foreign investors are attracted by the country's political stability and high educational levelscompasredto other couintries in the rergion. The Government has offered incentives in free-trade zones. Investors face, however, many of the same issues concerning the political culure of the region which prevent Latin American countries from relicastion the success of the Asiazn tigers, opnrr some of the same problemns: inadeqwuate infrastructure, high energy costs, a complicasted and unfriendly beauracracy, weak investor protection, and weak contract enforcement. Therte is also rising fiscal deficit, rising public debt, and relatively low levels of domestic revenue.

Created: 5:18 AM 2/9/2019
Last updated: 5:18 AM 2/9/2019