History Costa Rica

 Historical dates

1502: Christopher Columbus discovers Costa Rica, inhabited by pre-Colombian tribes.
Sixteenth to seventeenth century: Spanish colonisation.
1821: Proclamation of Independence. The country becomes economically developed thanks to coffee.
1844: Juan Rafael Mora, a coffee producer, is elected president.
1882: Abolition of the death penalty.
1940: Rafael Angel Calderon is elected president. Creation of social benefits and of a minimum income guarantee.
1948: Calderon's election sparks a civil war, lead by José Figueres Ferrer who becomes President.
1953: José Figueres wins the country's first democratic election under the new constitution, and becomes President.
1978: Elected President Rodrigo Carazo supports the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, until 1979.
1981: Support of the anti-Sandinistas.
1986: Oscar Arias Sanchez is elected President. The pacific government intensifies its peace effort in Central America.
1987: Signing of the peace treaty (Esquipulas II) by Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Oscar Arias Sanchez receives the Nobel Prize for Peace.
1990: Rafael Angel Calderon Fournier is elected President. Efforts are undertaken to develop ecological tourism.
1994: José Maria Jimenez Olsen is elected President.
1998: Businessman Miguel Angel Rodriguez is elected President.
2002: Presidential election of Abel Pacheco.