republic · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Republic of Costa Rica
Origins
Having left the Central American federation in 1838, Costa Rica formally declared itself a republic on 31 August 1848 under President José María Castro Madriz. Coffee exports through the port of Puntarenas had already created a prosperous Central Valley elite and a large class of smallholders.
Rule and society
Juan Rafael Mora Porras led the Central American war that defeated William Walker in 1856 to 1857, in which the drummer Juan Santamaría became a national hero. Tomás Guardia's rule from 1870 began the railway to Limón, built by Minor Keith, which spawned the banana industry. The death penalty was abolished in 1882, and the 1889 election is often regarded as the first truly free one. The Tinoco dictatorship of 1917 to 1919 was a rare break.
To the present
After a short civil war in 1948, José Figueres abolished the army, and the 1949 constitution confirmed it. Costa Rica has since held regular peaceful elections, became a leader in ecotourism and conservation, and Óscar Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for Central American peace efforts.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →More states of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Republic of Costa Rica. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-costa-rica
- MLA
- “Republic of Costa Rica.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-costa-rica. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Republic of Costa Rica.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-costa-rica.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Republic of Costa Rica’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-costa-rica (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻