Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)

Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at Guanahaní, an island in the Bahamas, on October 12, 1492 [OS]. On his return in 1493, he moved his coastal base of operations 70 miles (110 km) east to the island of Hispaniola, in what is now the Dominican Republic and established the settlement of La Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Americas.

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly 51,180 km² (19,760 sq mi). An estimated 352,381 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.