Costa Rica has not had a military since December 1, 1948.
"The money that was formerly spent on the military is now spent on
education and universal health care and has had a tremendous effect on
human development for the average Costa Rican."
I think that more countries should do this. I know it is an impossibility, but it seems to be working very well for Costa Rica.
SOURCES:
http://www.liveincostarica.com/blog/2008/12/60-years-with-no-army-in-costa-rica-wow.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Costa_Rica
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Silicon Valley of Latin America
This was actually really surprising to me. Costa Rica's number 1 export is microchips. For a long time, their number one exports were agricultural goods, like bananas or coffee.
SOURCES:
http://www.property-in-costarica.com/costa-rica-economy.html
http://costarica.usembassy.gov/economic-development.html
Costa Rican Indigenous Peoples
There are a few indigenous tribes in Costa Rica
Boruca - The tribe has about 2,660 members and they live on reservation in southwestern Costa Rica
Chorotega (The Matambú) -Fled to Costa Rica from southern Mexico, related to the Mayans.
Guaymi (The Ngabe) - These are near the Panama border and are the tribe with the most people with 200,000 - 250,000 estimated.
Bribri - 12,200 people were recorded in 2000, but the numbers are thought to have gone up to 35,000.
From Wikipedia "The Bribri social structure is organized in Clans. Each clan is composed of an extended family. The clan system is matrilineal, that is, a child's clan is determined by the clan his or her mother belongs to. This gives women a very important place in Bribri society since they are the only ones that can inherit land and prepare the sacred cacao (Theobrma cacao) drink that is essential for their rituals. Men's roles are defined by their clan, and often are exclusive for men. Examples of these roles are the "awa" or shaman, and the "oko", the only person allowed to touch the remains of the dead, sing funeral songs, and prepare the food eaten at funerals."
All these indigenous tribes together only make up 1% of Costa Rica's population.
SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boruca_people
http://galerianamu.com/blog/tribal-masks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Costa_Rica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribri_people
Boruca - The tribe has about 2,660 members and they live on reservation in southwestern Costa Rica
Chorotega (The Matambú) -Fled to Costa Rica from southern Mexico, related to the Mayans.
Guaymi (The Ngabe) - These are near the Panama border and are the tribe with the most people with 200,000 - 250,000 estimated.
Bribri - 12,200 people were recorded in 2000, but the numbers are thought to have gone up to 35,000.
From Wikipedia "The Bribri social structure is organized in Clans. Each clan is composed of an extended family. The clan system is matrilineal, that is, a child's clan is determined by the clan his or her mother belongs to. This gives women a very important place in Bribri society since they are the only ones that can inherit land and prepare the sacred cacao (Theobrma cacao) drink that is essential for their rituals. Men's roles are defined by their clan, and often are exclusive for men. Examples of these roles are the "awa" or shaman, and the "oko", the only person allowed to touch the remains of the dead, sing funeral songs, and prepare the food eaten at funerals."
All these indigenous tribes together only make up 1% of Costa Rica's population.
SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boruca_people
http://galerianamu.com/blog/tribal-masks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Costa_Rica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribri_people
Today,
Costa Ricans are largely of European descent and an estimated 10% of the
country’s population is Nicaraguan. Local indigenous tribes – Boruca,
Chorotega, Guaymi, Bribri, Kekoldi and Cabecar – account for a mere 1%
of the total population. - See more at:
http://costarica.com/travel/10-interesting-facts/#sthash.Cn2Hy4W5.dpuf
Today,
Costa Ricans are largely of European descent and an estimated 10% of the
country’s population is Nicaraguan. Local indigenous tribes – Boruca,
Chorotega, Guaymi, Bribri, Kekoldi and Cabecar – account for a mere 1%
of the total population. - See more at:
http://costarica.com/travel/10-interesting-facts/#sthash.Cn2Hy4W5.dpuf
Today,
Costa Ricans are largely of European descent and an estimated 10% of the
country’s population is Nicaraguan. Local indigenous tribes – Boruca,
Chorotega, Guaymi, Bribri, Kekoldi and Cabecar – account for a mere 1%
of the total population. - See more at:
http://costarica.com/travel/10-interesting-facts/#sthash.Cn2Hy4W5.dpuf
Today,
Costa Ricans are largely of European descent and an estimated 10% of the
country’s population is Nicaraguan. Local indigenous tribes – Boruca,
Chorotega, Guaymi, Bribri, Kekoldi and Cabecar – account for a mere 1%
of the total population. - See more at:
http://costarica.com/travel/10-interesting-facts/#sthash.Cn2Hy4W5.dpuf
Women's Rights in Costa Rica
First off, I think it is a good sign for women's rights that Costa Rica's current president is a woman. This is a picture of Costa Rica's President Laura Chinchilla Miranda.
She is the first woman president of Costa Rica and was elected in 2010, and the 6th female president to be elected in Latin America
President Chinchilla has stated “Women continue receiving less salary for the same kind of job,” in a 2011 Forbes interview. “Women have a higher unemployment rate in our country. When you analyze the composition of poverty, you will find that most of the families in poverty are being run by a woman. Also, a big issue is violence against women.” (Source 1)
Other facts:
Women in Costa Rica make 90% of what men earn at work. That's actually pretty good, but their unemployment rate is higher.
The enrollment and attendance rate is higher for girls in primary and secondary schools than is is for boys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The president mentioned that violence against women is an issue, so I looked it up. I found that men use stupid excuses to justify their violence. Groups blame sexual violence on the way that women dress or act. This has led to there being political protests in the form of "Slut Walks." I think that it is awesome that they are able to have this kind of protest. If women were to attempt this sort of thing in Middle Eastern countries, they'd probably be shot.
Costa Rica is a Roman Catholic country. It is not socially accepted that women are as sexual as men are. Abortions in Costa Rica are illegal. The president is against legalizing the morning after pill.
SOURCES:
http://www.peacexpeace.org/2012/09/costa-rica-a-good-place-to-be-a-woman/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Chinchilla
http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/take-a-look-at-costa-ricas-own-slut-walk-video/9667/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/08/19/costa-rica-slut-walk-discussions-on-religion-and-womens-rights/
President Chinchilla has stated “Women continue receiving less salary for the same kind of job,” in a 2011 Forbes interview. “Women have a higher unemployment rate in our country. When you analyze the composition of poverty, you will find that most of the families in poverty are being run by a woman. Also, a big issue is violence against women.” (Source 1)
Other facts:
Women in Costa Rica make 90% of what men earn at work. That's actually pretty good, but their unemployment rate is higher.
The enrollment and attendance rate is higher for girls in primary and secondary schools than is is for boys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The president mentioned that violence against women is an issue, so I looked it up. I found that men use stupid excuses to justify their violence. Groups blame sexual violence on the way that women dress or act. This has led to there being political protests in the form of "Slut Walks." I think that it is awesome that they are able to have this kind of protest. If women were to attempt this sort of thing in Middle Eastern countries, they'd probably be shot.
Costa Rica is a Roman Catholic country. It is not socially accepted that women are as sexual as men are. Abortions in Costa Rica are illegal. The president is against legalizing the morning after pill.
SOURCES:
http://www.peacexpeace.org/2012/09/costa-rica-a-good-place-to-be-a-woman/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Chinchilla
http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/take-a-look-at-costa-ricas-own-slut-walk-video/9667/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/08/19/costa-rica-slut-walk-discussions-on-religion-and-womens-rights/
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The happiest place on Earth
According to the Happy Planet Index, Costa Rica is number 1 happiest country!
Vietnam and Colombia come in second and third.
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/countries/costa-rica/
SOURCES:
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/costa-rica-tops-happy-planet-index-u-s-ranked-dismal105th-place-large-ecological-footprint-article-1.1095831
http://www.forbes.com/sites/traceygreenstein/2012/10/01/take-a-trip-to-the-happiest-country-on-earth/
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/
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