This map of Costa Rica was published by the International Bureau of the American Republics (instituted in 1910 as the Pan American Union), an agency established in 1890 in Washington D.C., by resolution of the International Conference of American States. The bureau published handbooks, maps, and a monthly bulletin for disseminating information relating to the promotion of trade among the countries of the Americas. The map shows the routes of steamship lines from the ports of Limon, Puntarenas, and San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua); undersea telegraph cables; railroads; and the proposed route of an isthmian canal across Nicaragua, later abandoned in favor of a route across Panama. The map was made before 1903, when Panama became an independent country, so it shows Costa Rica as still bordering on Colombia to its south. The map is held in the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States, successor organization of the International Bureau of the American Republics and the Pan American Union.