Costa Rica History and Demographics Paragraph

Human inhabitants in Costa Rica have been traced back at least 12,000 years, evidence was found at many sites throughout the central region. Between 800 BCE and 2000 BCE people started to settle permanently in small villages and cultivate maize. Some of these people are believed to be parts of the Diquis, Nicoya and Chibcha cultures.The area began to conduct long distance trade between different civilizations of mesoamerica. At this time the civilization was under great influence from the Olmec, Maya and Pre Columbian cultures present from about 300 BCE. Villages increased significantly during this time new societies were formed such as the Chorotega, Chibcha, and Corobici. Between 300 and 800 BCE. The Corocici were now living in Guayabo de Turrialba, which is now known as central Costa Rica. They developed several impressive pottery techniques which at the time were the most advanced and innovative throughout south and central america. Costa Rican culture expanded. The settlement peaked at about 1000 BCE which supported around 10,000 people. It was abandoned for unknown reasons in the 15th century. The Chorotega built villages around the heart of their civilization, a central plaza which is now known as North West Costa Rica. Costa Rica was taken control over by Christopher Columbus in 1451 to 1506. In 1502 Costa Rica became a Spanish colony and Juan Vasquez was appointed governor. The Spanish made the indigenous people do hard work and even tortured the people. This led to a major population decrease. Costa Rica gained independence from Spain in 1821 after Mexico defeated Spain in the Mexican War of independence. It became a member of the United Provinces of Central America, however Costa Ricans did not have a lot of interest in this federation. Later it declared itself a sovereign republic in 1838. The country's economy changed when coffee was introduced in the late 18th century. At this time coffee was Costa Rica's main export. Costa Rica had become very wealthy and even immigrants from Europe came to try to join Costa Rica’s success!

Since independence Costa Rica has a long history of a stable demographic government. The current president Rodrigo Chaves Robles focused on maintaining relations with neighboring countries and in the agriculture industry. Today in Costa Rica there is a pretty small indigenous population. The main population is made up of Mestizo (spanish and indigenous mix) and people of African Europe and Asian descent. The majority of the population is of European descent mostly from Spain. Having been colonized in 1502 by the Spanish, it greatly affected the ethnic composition today. When Costa Rica was a spanish colony the igneous population was put to very hard labor this has an effect on the population today with only a small minority of indigenous people living there currently.