Central America · Independence and the federations
Costa Rica
1821/1838–present
Costa Rica declared independence from Spain on 15 September 1821 as part of Central America, joined the Federal Republic, and became fully sovereign after the federation's collapse (seceding definitively by 1838); its capital is San José.
- Existed
- 1821/1838–present
- Shown on the map
- 1840–2024
- Peak area
- 56k km²
- Region
- Central America
Overview
Costa Rica declared independence from Spain on 15 September 1821 as part of Central America, joined the Federal Republic, and became fully sovereign after the federation's collapse (seceding definitively by 1838); its capital is San José. Relatively remote, sparsely populated, and lacking both large indigenous labor forces and a dominant plantation aristocracy, Costa Rica developed a comparatively egalitarian smallholder society, its 19th-century economy built on coffee and later bananas. It repelled the American filibuster William Walker in the 1856–1857 campaign (the national hero Juan Santamaría reputedly dying at the Second Battle of Rivas).
Later history and present status
The defining modern event was the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, sparked by a disputed presidential election, in which José Figueres Ferrer prevailed. As head of the victorious junta, Figueres constitutionally abolished the national army (1948, entrenched in the 1949 constitution), granted women's suffrage, and nationalized the banks — foundations of Costa Rica's exceptional stability. It has since been the region's most durable democracy, with a strong welfare state, an ecotourism-driven economy, and a foreign policy tradition of neutrality.
Common questions
- What was Costa Rica?
- Costa Rica declared independence from Spain on 15 September 1821 as part of Central America, joined the Federal Republic, and became fully sovereign after the federation's collapse (seceding definitively by 1838); its capital is San José.
- When did Costa Rica exist?
- Costa Rica existed 1821/1838–present. On this map it is drawn 1840–2024.
- How large was Costa Rica?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Costa Rica covered about 56,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- What is the present status of Costa Rica?
- The defining modern event was the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, sparked by a disputed presidential election, in which José Figueres Ferrer prevailed. As head of the victorious junta, Figueres constitutionally abolished the national army (1948, entrenched in the 1949 constitution), granted women's suffrage, and nationalized the banks — foundations of Costa Rica's exceptional stability.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Costa Rica en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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