Time went by and Costa Rica swam in the same waters as the rest of Central America. Corruption and foreign imperialism degraded much of what had made San Jose a jewel. As foreign hands came into the power play, the riches of the country were held in the few hands of the coffee oligarchy and the foreign fruit companies.

After world war, and a short civil war in 1948, San Jose began a massive expansion. The city grew from its small center to merge with neighboring urban areas. Today, the borders of what is know as San Jose aren’t clearly defined. San Jose is contiguous to the other 3 major cities in the central valley, to the extent that is becoming one large metropolitan zone. 1,500,000 people live in the Central Valley today.

San Jose is now the silicon valley of Central America: its #1 export-> Intel microprocessors, #1 university degree by enrollment-> computer engineering, #1 foreign exchange source: toursim.

Coffee and bananas are as important today as the Pony Express one day was for the Old west.

San Jose will continue to grow in all economic areas due to its high education rate.

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Filed under: Travel on July 27th, 2007