Costa Rica is the first country in the world to abolish its army and is now one of the 21 countries in the world that don’t have a military. The country decided to abolish it after the civil war which broke out in 1948 (“Revolution of 48”). The decision was announced on December 1, 1948 by former president José Figueres Ferres and took effect in 1949.

The civil war in El Salvador which took place between 1981 and 1992 was particularly long and bloody. The U.S were involved in the conflict.