ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Costa Rica. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Costa Rica. The Republic of Costa Rica achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and became a republic in 1848. In June 2001, the Costa Rican government began construction of a seven-foot high fence along the Penas Blancas border crossing with Nicaragua on the Pan-American Highway along the Pacific Coast. Costa Rica's Indian population have demanded the right to self-government and ownership of their traditional lands. Costa Rica is a transit and destination country for trafficked persons, particularly for persons from Asia being sent to the United States.
