Sidebar #36 - Annexation of Nicoya

If you’re American, and you’ve visited Costa Rica on vacation, there’s a good chance you visited Guanacaste. Guanacaste is a province located in Costa Rica’s northwest corner on the Pacific coast bordering Nicaragua and encompassing much of the Nicoya Peninsula. Guanacaste is paradise: it is home to many of Costa Rica’s most famous beach towns like Tamarindo, Sámara, and Nosara, just to name a few. Equally, most of the all-inclusive resorts in Costa Rica are also nestled in Guanacaste. Costa Rica depends largely on tourism, so because of its beaches and resorts, Guanacaste plays a significant role in bolstering the national economy.

But what if I told you that Guanacaste wasn’t always a part of Costa Rica? For a brief period of time in the 1800s, following independence from Spain, the Nicoya Peninsula (mostly modern-day Guanacaste) was its own political entity. Central America gained independence from Spain in 1821, meaning that prior provinces like Costa Rica and Nicaragua emerged as countries. Due to its location, Nicoya possessed close ties with both Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and each wished to add Nicoya to its territory. Eventually, in 1824, the State of Costa Rica officially invited Nicoya to join the rest of the country. Nicoya held a referendum in which 77 percent of the population elected to join Costa Rica politically. Ever since, the area encompassing the Nicoya Peninsula and modern-day Guanacaste has belonged to Costa Rica. 

The day Nicoya was officially incorporated into Costa Rica was July 25, 1824. Every July, Costa Ricans celebrate the Annexation of Nicoya. It’s a federal holiday meaning that school is out and Ticos are off work. My students marked the occasion with an acto cívico on July 24th.