On December 1, 1948, President José Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica abolished the military of Costa Rica after victory in the civil war that year. The budget previously dedicated to the military is now dedicated to security, education and culture. Costa Rica maintains Police Guard forces.
In 1986, President Oscar Arias Sánchez declared December 1 as the Día de la Abolición del Ejército (Military Abolition Day) with Law #8115. Unlike its neighbors, Costa Rica has not endured a civil war since 1948.
In 1996, the Ministry of Public Security established the Fuerza Pública or Public Force, a gendarmerie which reorganized and eliminated the Civil Guard, Rural Assistance Guard, and Frontier Guards as separate entities. It is responsible for ground security, law enforcement, counter-narcotics, border patrol, and tourism security functions.
Outside the Fuerza Pública, there is a small Special Forces Unit, the Unidad Especial de Civil (UEI) or Special Intervention Unit, an elite commando force which trains with special forces from around the world, but is not part of the main police forces.
An aircraft inventory in 2016 reported 15 aircraft operated by Air Vigilance Service, as government support, law enforcement, and civil duties.
The following are countries without an army.
Andorra
Solomon Islands
St. Lucia
Palau
Samoa
Federated States of Micronesia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Dominica
Haiti
Liechtenstein
Grenada
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Nauru
Tuvalu
Vatican City
These are countries with no standing army, but having limited military.
Costa Rica
Iceland
Monaco
Mauritius
Panama
Vanuatu
Summarized from Wikipedia and WhichCountryInfo.com
This orthographic map of Costa Rica was created by Addicted04 and has a CCBY-SA 3.0 license.
