Contrary what most people believe, the banana does not grow on a tree, but is actually a plant. The banana’s fruit grow in clusters of up to 20 banana’s and a plant can offer to harvests a year. When the first harvest grows and ripens on the tall plant, a second shoot is growing at the base of the first one. After the bananas are harvested the first shoot is cut of and the second takes over, so one plant can produce a total up to 100 kilograms per year. Costa Rica was the first country in Central America were banana plantations were developed. The story of the introduction of the banana in Costa Rica is connected with the history of its railway from San Jose to Limon. A foreign contractor Minor C. Keith was hired to construct the railroad in 1871, but financial problems prevented Costa Rica’s government to meet its financial obligations. Keith had to loan over a million pounds to continue the construction and was compensated by the president of Costa Rica with 800,000 acres of land along the railroad tracks combined with a lease on the operation of the railroad and the port of Limon. It soon turned out that it would be impossible to make any profit with the railroad and he developed banana plantations on his land. The bananas he produced were transported by rail and shipped from Limon to the United States of America. This was such a profitable business that he could buy up several other banana producing companies and soon dominated the banana trade all over Central America Caribbean coast. In 1899 Keith merged with the Boston Fruit Company which dominated the West Indies and the United Fruit Company was founded. The company with its monopoly on growing, planting, transporting and shipping the banana’s grew into such a dominant economic factor that countries like Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras earned the dubious qualification of banana republic. More than 75% of the export of Central America was based on the export of banana’s and coffee. After the global market collapsed in the 1970’s Costa Rica shifted its interests to developing the country as a tourist destination. Almost a third of the Costa Rica’s territory is now protected and deforestation for agricultural purposes is restricted. The banana companies are still present, especially in the provinces of Puntarenas and Limon, where Chiquita, Dole and DelMonte produce more than 2,000,000 metric tons and rank Costa Rica as number seven on the list of banana producing countries.