Abstract
Discovered by Columbus in 1502 on his last voyage, Costa Rica (Rich Coast) was part of the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain from 1540 to 1821, then of the Central American Federation until 1838 when it achieved full independence. Coffee was introduced in 1808 and became a mainstay of the economy, helping to create a peasant land-owning class.
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Further Reading
Biesanz, R., et al., The Costa Ricans. Hemel Hempstead, 1982
Bird, L., Costa Rica: Unarmed Democracy. London, 1984
Creedman, T. S., Historical Dictionary of Costa Rica. 2nd ed. Metuchen (N.J.), 1991
Cruz, Consuelo, Political Culture and Institutional Development in Costa Rica and Nicaragua: World Making in the Tropics. CUP, 2005
National Statistical Office: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, San José.
Website (Spanish only): http://www.inec.go.cr/
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© 2008 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Turner, B. (2008). Costa Rica. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-74027-7_150
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-74027-7_150
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4039-9278-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-74027-7
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