This Wednesday, July 25 is a holiday in Costa Rica due to the celebration of the 194 anniversary of the “Annexation of Nicoya” (Anexión de Nicoya) also referred to as the “Annexation of Guanacaste”.

When we go back in time, we learn that initially what was known as the “Partido de Nicoya” (‘partido’ meaning administrative district) was an independent territory that included the lands located to the west of the Tempisque River all the way to the Pacific Ocean and to the north of Salto River to La Flor River and the Nicaragua Lake which constituted the boarder with what was then the province of Nicaragua.

The Partido de Nicoya maintained its autonomy, it did not belong to Nicaragua or Costa Rica, but commercially and geographically it had more links with Costa Rica.

The Central American provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1821 and for the next few years they would go through several political changes with some countries separating from what was known as the Central American confederation. Nicaragua started expressing its interest in Nicoya since 1821, however, the distance between the territories didn’t allow them to have close ties.

The “Partido de Nicoya” territory was formed by three areas, Nicoya, Santa Cruz and Guanacaste (today Liberia).

Eventually, the Partido de Nicoya due to its low population and small territory had to decide on whether to join the territory of Costa Rica or Nicaragua.

Due to the internal problems that Nicaragua was facing in those years and the strong commercial relation Nicoya had with Costa Rica, most of the population was in favor of being a part of Costa Rica.

Juan Manuel Mora Fernandez, Costa Rica’s first head of state, made an invitation to the mayor of Nicoya to officially join Costa Rica, the mayor called a plebiscite and the inhabitants decided it was time to become a part of Costa Rica, the mayor signed the “annexation” in July 25, 1824 with the slogan “De La Patria Por Nuestra Voluntad” which means “Costa Rican by our choice”; later Santa Cruz also joined Costa Rica; Liberia at the time had the intention of joining Nicaragua, it wasn’t until 1826 that Liberia finally accepted to be a part of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica gained not only an important extension of territory, but also enriched its culture and gastronomy. Guanacaste is today one of the most important provinces of Costa Rica when it comes to Eco-tourism attractions, farming and agricultural production and even generation of electricity through renewable sources.