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Costa Rica: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for researching Costa Rica, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

Banana plantation, Costa Rica. [between 1908 and 1919]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Costa Rica. Curated by librarians in the Hispanic Reading Room, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Reading Room is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Costa Rica from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Costa Rica: Quick Facts

Banana plantation, Costa Rica. [between 1908 and 1919] Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.

Official Name: Republic of Costa Rica

Capital: San José

Date of Independence: 15 September 1821

Head of State/Government: President Rodrigo Chaves Robles

Population: 5.048 million (2019)

Languages: Spanish, Maléku, Cabécar, Bribri, Guna, Guaymí, Buglere

States: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas and San Jose