Information about Costa Rica

The type of government and some of the politics. Not too much of this because hey you are on vacation right! But some facts about the laws that may affect your vacation.

Then we will throw in some interesting and hopefully fun facts about the country.

As every place has things that may be hidden from those that are not curious. We also try to find out something interesting that may not be well known any time we go on vacation.

There are a lot of sites out there with a ton of information but we will try to put things into our own words and hopefully make it more interesting and entertaining for you. When was it discovered and by whom?

The country was discovered in 1502 by none other than Christopher Columbus.

The name means Rich Coast.

Archaeologists now know that civilization existed for thousands of years before the arrival of Columbus, and evidence of human occupation in the region dates back 10,000 years.

Among the cultural mysteries left behind by the area's pre-Columbian inhabitants are thousands of perfectly spherical granite bolas that have been found near the west coast. The sizes of these inimitable relics range from that of a baseball to that of a small bus.

Ruins of a large, ancient city complete with aqueducts were recently found east of San Jose, and some gold and jade work was discovered in the southwest as far back as 1,000 years ago.

Some archeological sites in the central highlands and Nicoya peninsula have shown evidence of influence from the Mexican Olmec and Nahuatl civilizations.

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