Something I found really interesting is that the average family size is declining in Costa Rica.
These are the quotes I found:
"Today Costa Rica has an average of 1.82 children born to each woman, which is below the 2.1 “replacement rate”
needed to keep the population steady. Experts are eyeing the rate to
see if it falls to levels below 1.5 that raised alarm in some European
countries.
As more Costa Rican women gain higher education and enter the
workforce—or rise to the presidency like Laura Chinchilla—they are
increasingly putting careers first. " - (www.americasquarterly.org/node/3170)
and
"The country's population is believed to have
surpassed the 3 million mark in the last couple
of years. Family size is declining steadily
with parents who are now in their thirties
having only 2 or 3 children, whereas they
themselves come from families of 8 or 9. It
would not be at all uncommon for their grandparents
to have 12 or 14 siblings. The annual population
growth rate is now at 2.3 percent. Another
major factor adding to the steady increase
of the population has been a regular stream
of illegal immigrants from Nicaragua, which
has extremely high unemployment." - (http://www.worldheadquarters.com/cr/people/)
Those are some huge birth number drops! It is interesting that one of the reasons for it is that women are getting more educated. However with the birth rate decreasing, there are immigrants coming in from Nicaragua which is adding to the population growth.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Costa Rica has not had an army for 64+ years
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
"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
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/
Monday, February 4, 2013
Introduction
This blog is for an assignment in my class on The Anthropology of Latin America.
I chose Costa Rica because I've seen it mentioned as one of the prettiest places and wanted to learn more about it. I know basically nothing about Costa Rica, currently. What I do know is that it is located somewhere in Central America, people speak Spanish there (the country's name means "Rich Coast" in Spanish), it has sloths, and it looks really green and tropical from all the pictures I have seen.
After doing some searching on the internet, this is what I have learned.
Location:
Towards the bottom of Central America, sandwiched between two countries, south of Nicaragua and north of Panama.
Population:
According to wikipedia, the 2011 census reported 4,301,712 people.
Languages Spoken:
The official language is Spanish, and there are two recognized regional languages, Mekatelyu, and Bribri.
Capital:
San Jose, located in the center of the country.
Official Religion:
Catholicism
Official Sport:
Futbol (Soccer)
Random Info:
~ There are many volcanoes in Costa Rica, 6 active and 61 dormant.
~ There is a famous sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica as well.
I chose Costa Rica because I've seen it mentioned as one of the prettiest places and wanted to learn more about it. I know basically nothing about Costa Rica, currently. What I do know is that it is located somewhere in Central America, people speak Spanish there (the country's name means "Rich Coast" in Spanish), it has sloths, and it looks really green and tropical from all the pictures I have seen.
After doing some searching on the internet, this is what I have learned.
Location:
Towards the bottom of Central America, sandwiched between two countries, south of Nicaragua and north of Panama.
Population:
According to wikipedia, the 2011 census reported 4,301,712 people.
Languages Spoken:
The official language is Spanish, and there are two recognized regional languages, Mekatelyu, and Bribri.
Capital:
San Jose, located in the center of the country.
Official Religion:
Catholicism
Official Sport:
Futbol (Soccer)
Random Info:
~ There are many volcanoes in Costa Rica, 6 active and 61 dormant.
~ There is a famous sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica as well.
Flag of Costa Rica
A cute video of the sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica.
Various animals from Costa Rica.
Arenal Volcano of Costa Rica
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