Description
The map includes the coat of arms of Costa Rica, flanked by its official flag, in the lower left corner, adorned with two sailing ships, three volcanic mountains, and a rising sun. It has five stars representing the country’s five provinces at the time. In 1964 two additional stars were added to the coat of arms representing two additional provinces. Below the coat of arms, an inset map highlights Isla del Coco –a remote Pacific Island known for its rich biodiversity and pirate legends — accompanied by an illustration of a treasure chest and of a pirate. A compass rose is in the upper right. The labels of the Pacific Ocean and Mar de las Antillas are written in bold script accompanied by shark illustrations.
This map apparently is rare; we were unable to locate any other examples of it. As with other mid 20th Century pictorial maps of this period of the islands of the West Indies and Central America, this example was likely created to promote tourism. The map bears of the credit of Universal, a publisher active in Costa Rica in the mid 20th century. A map of the economy of Costa Rica by the same publisher, in the Ethel Fair collection of the Library Congress is titled Mapa Humano Economico de Costa Rica.
