Costa Rica

Costa Rica, the southernmost of the republics of Central America, extends from sea to sea, and from Colombia to Nicaragua. It contains six provinces, and has an area of 20,000 square miles. The white men of the country are mostly of pure Spanish descent. The country is mountainous, and has many volcanoes - none above 12,000 feet high. The Atlantic side is covered with forests, but on the Pacific slopes savannahs prevail. The climate is mild and temperate, and the land is fertile and rich in minerals - gold, silver, copper, and others. There is some agriculture, but the population is scanty, and not more than 1/20th of the country is under cultivation. The chief production of the country is coffee, for the growth of which the soil is eminently fitted. It also produces good timber and dyewoods, which it exports together with sugar, caoutchouc, hides, sarsaparilla, and tortoise-shell. The imports are principally grain and manufactured goods. The chief ports are Punta Arenas and Limon, the latter of which is connected by a railway 118 miles long with San Jose, the capital. San Jose was much damaged by an earthquake in 1888. The government is carried on by a president and congress elected every four years, and there is a small standing army of 500 men, and a militia of 15,000. The Catholic religion is established, but religious freedom is guaranteed. The revenue is chiefly derived from a monopoly of spirits and tobacco.