OSTA RICA is not a large country but it occupies 23,000

States of Maryland, Massachusetts and Delaware. Its population of 370,000 does not represent one-tenth of what it could maintain if all of its available land were utilized. This Republic is one of the most prosperous of Central America and has a remarkable record for peace and stability. In the year 1909 Costa Rica conducted a foreign trade in excess of $14,000,000. Of this the share of the United States was much the largest of any foreign country being more than $8,000,000. The imports from the United States were $3,375,000 and the exports to it $4,800,000. The leading exports of the country are bananas, coffee, gold and silver bullion, hides, rubber, cacao, valuable woods, mother-of-pearl, etc. The capital of Costa Rica is the attractive city of San José which has a population of 40,000. The principal port on the Caribbean side is Limon and on the Pacific side Puntarenas. At Cartago is located the Central American Court of Justice, and the Peace Palace erected by Mr. Carnegie.

CUBA,

This

UBA, in which everybody has a deep interest, is larger than is generally supposed. It could entirely cover the State of Pennsylvania and have 600 square miles to spare. Its total extent is 45,883 square miles and it has a population of 2,050,000. is an average of 29.6 per square mile, making it one of the most densely populated of the American Republics. Considering its area and population, the foreign commerce of Cuba makes an excellent showing. Its total value, last year, exceeded $204,000,000 with a balance in its favor of nearly $31,000,000. The principal exports were sugar and tobacco with smaller quantities of copper, fruits, woods, skins and hides. The exports to the United States were over $101,000,000, the imports from it nearly $43,000,000, making a total trade exchange with the large sister of $144,000,000.

Havana, the capital, is truly becoming a metropolis, for its population is now given as 302,000. The railway mileage is approximately 2,330 with some new projects under construction.

HE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC is becoming rapidly better known with a corresponding appreciation of its natural resources. Not remote from the United States, lying between Cuba and Porto Rico, it has an area of nearly 20,000 square miles and a population of 700,000. Its capital, Santo Domingo, on the south coast, and Puerto Plata on the north side, are the principal ports. The foreign trade last year reached nearly $13,000,000 of which

the share of the United States was over $7,000,000 divided into imports $2,600,000 and exports $4,700,000. The Dominican Republic's most valuable exports are sugar, cacao, leaf tobacco, coffee, bananas, wax, hides, goat skins, honey, mahogany, lignum-vitae

and other woods. The country as yet has only about 175 miles of railway although there are some 225 miles of private lines in the plantations. The construction of several new roads is possible in the near future to open up the interior.

ECUADOR

CUADOR gets its name from its situation under the Equator

and yet such a large portion of it has a high elevation that it has a temperate as well as a tropical climate. There are many different estimates as to its area because its boundary lines are not yet clearly defined, but the limit generally accepted is 116,000 square miles-equal to the combined area of the States of Missouri and

Arkansas. It has a long coast-line upon the Pacific Ocean and its principal commercial city, Guayaquil, is located upon one of the finest harbors of the Pacific. A remarkable railroad recently completed and overcoming great physical difficulties carries the traveler from Guayaquil, at sea level, to Quito, the capital, nearly 10,000 feet higher up. This city is indeed worthy of a visit and has a population of 80,000; that of the whole country is 1,500,000.

Ecuador's foreign trade in 1909 was valued at approximately $22,000,000. It imported from the United States products valued at $2,400,000 and sent exports to that country worth $3,400,000, making a total trade with the United States of nearly $6,000,000. The principal articles of exports are cacao, ivory nuts, famous Jipijapa hats, known commercially as "Panamas," rubber, coffee, gold and hides. There are in operation a little over 316 miles of railway with several hundred miles more projected. Ecuador is a land of vast potentialities which will experience great development upon the opening of the Panama Canal, as it is only a few days steaming distance from Panama.

UATEMALA is so accessible that it is rapidly becoming well known in the United States. Its northern boundary line is coterminous with the southern line of Mexico and it has a total area