Americans in Costa Rica

Last updated
Americans in Costa Rica
"Estadounidenses en Costa Rica"
Total population
70,000
Regions with significant populations
San José, Guanacaste, Puntarenas
Languages
American English  · Costa Rican Spanish
Related ethnic groups
American diaspora

Americans in Costa Rica consists of immigrants and expatriates from the United States to Costa Rica, mostly retirees. According to the U.S. State Department, about 70,000 Americans live in the country. [1]

Contents

American retirees, many of whom are Baby boomers, flocked to Costa Rica’s tropical beaches to retire as they’re drawn to its biodiversity, the political stability, and its relative low cost health care. The number of Americans who collect their Social Security checks in Costa Rica has jumped 67% since 2002.

Many Americans also purchase vacation homes and, rather than leave the U.S. entirely behind, use the rental income to pay off the property in the interim and then retire to Costa Rica at a later date. [2]

Education

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costa Rica</span> Country in Central America

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of 51,060 km2 (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Costa Rica</span>

This is a demography of the population of Costa Rica including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Costa Rica</span> National economy of Costa Rica

The economy of Costa Rica has been very stable for some years now, with continuing growth in the GDP and moderate inflation, though with a high unemployment rate: 11.49% in 2019. Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then. The estimated GDP for 2023 is US$78 billion, up significantly from the US$52.6 billion in 2015 while the estimated 2023 per capita is US$26,422.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central America</span> Subregion of the Americas

Central America is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Central America usually consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San José, Costa Rica</span> Capital and the largest city of Costa Rica

San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San José is Costa Rica's seat of national government, focal point of political and economic activity, and major transportation hub. San José Canton's population was 288,054 in 2011, and San José's municipal land area is 44.2 square kilometers, with an estimated 333,980 residents in 2015. Together with several other cantons of the central valley, including Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, it forms the country's Greater Metropolitan Area, with an estimated population of over 2 million in 2017. The city is named in honor of Joseph of Nazareth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartago, Costa Rica</span> City in Cartago Province, Costa Rica

Cartago is the head city of Cartago canton of the Cartago Province, and is composed of the Oriental and Occidental districts as stated in the administrative divisions of Costa Rica. It was the capital of Costa Rica from 1574 to 1824.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Costa Rica</span> Overview of the culture of Costa Rica

Costa Rican culture has been heavily influenced by Spanish culture ever since the Spanish colonization of the Americas including the territory which today forms Costa Rica. Parts of the country have other strong cultural influences, including the Caribbean province of Limón and the Cordillera de Talamanca which are influenced by Jamaican immigrants and indigenous native people, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monteverde</span> Canton in Puntarenas province, Costa Rica

Monteverde is the twelfth canton of the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. It is located in the Cordillera de Tilarán mountain range. Roughly a four-hour drive from the Central Valley, Monteverde is one of the country's major ecotourism destinations. The area is host to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and several other natural attractions, which draw considerable numbers of tourists and naturalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Costa Rica</span> Public university in Costa Rica

The University of Costa Rica is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Montes de Oca, in the province of San José. It is the oldest and largest institution of higher learning in Costa Rica, originally established as the Universidad de Santo Tomás in 1843. It is also the most important research university in the country and Central America and is counted among the most prestigious universities of Latin America. Approximately 45,000 students attend UCR throughout the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicaraguans</span> People of Nicaragua

Nicaraguans are people inhabiting in, originating or having significant heritage from Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans live in Nicaragua, although there is also a significant Nicaraguan diaspora, particularly in Costa Rica and the United States with smaller communities in other countries around the world. There are also people living in Nicaragua who are not Nicaraguans because they were not born or raised in Nicaragua nor have they gained citizenship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bribri people</span> Chibchan ethnic group of southeast Costa Rica

The Bribri are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Armuelles</span> City and corregimiento in Chiriquí, Panama

Puerto Armuelles is a city and corregimiento on Panama's Pacific coast in western Chiriquí Province adjacent to Costa Rica. It is the seat of the Barú District and the second-largest city in Chiriqui province with a population of nearly 25,000. Puerto Armuelles has two different types of deep-water ports, one for bananas, and one for oil.

Costa Rica's official and predominant language is Spanish. The variety spoken there, Costa Rican Spanish, is a form of Central American Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costa Rica–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Relations between Costa Rica and the United States have been historically close; nevertheless there were instances in history where the US and Costa Rica disagreed. One such example might be the case of Freebooter William Walker. Nevertheless, considering that Costa Rica generally supports the U.S. in international fora, especially in the areas of democracy and human rights, modern day relations are very strong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October 2008 Central America floods</span> Atlantic tropical depression in 2008

The October 2008 Central America floods were caused by a series of low-pressure areas including Tropical Depression Sixteen, a short-lived tropical cyclone in the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season that made landfall in Honduras. Heavy rainfall began in early October 2008 while a tropical wave passed through the region. On October 14, Tropical Depression Sixteen formed just off the northeast coast of Honduras, and at the same time a low-pressure system was on the Pacific coast. Both systems increased rainfall across the region, although the depression dropped heavy rainfall close to its center when it moved ashore on October 15. Although Tropical Depression Sixteen quickly dissipated over land, its remnants persisted for several days. Another low-pressure area interacted with a cold front on October 21, adding to the rainfall in the region.

At the 2011 census, the number of immigrants in Costa Rica totaled about 390,000 individuals, or about 9% of the country's population. Following a considerable drop from 1950 through 1980, immigration to Costa Rica has increased in recent decades.

Swedish Costa Ricans are citizens of Costa Rica who have Swedish ancestry. According to the 2012 census by the INEC, approximately 1,100 citizens from Sweden live in Costa Rica, mainly professionals and retired people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Otto</span> Category 3 Atlantic and Pacific hurricane in 2016

Hurricane Otto was a strong late-season tropical cyclone that impacted parts of Central America in November 2016. It was the first Atlantic hurricane since Cesar–Douglas in 1996 to survive the crossover from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Forming late on November 20 in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, Otto was the fifteenth and final named storm, seventh hurricane and fourth major hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. It quickly intensified into a strong tropical storm the next day, and on November 23–24, rapidly strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane, the first in the month of November since Hurricane Paloma in 2008, and the latest date an Atlantic hurricane attained such intensity on record. Otto made landfall in Nicaragua at peak intensity on November 24, thus becoming the latest hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since 1851 when records began. Traveling along the Nicaragua–Costa Rica border, the system rapidly weakened to a tropical storm before emerging over the eastern Pacific Ocean, becoming the final storm of the 2016 Pacific hurricane season as well. Hostile environmental conditions inhibited reorganization, and Otto subsequently degenerated into an elongated trough on November 26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Nate</span> Category 1 Atlantic hurricane in 2017

Hurricane Nate was an Atlantic hurricane which was the costliest natural disaster in Costa Rican history. An unusually fast-moving tropical cyclone, it caused severe flooding in Central America, leading to widespread destruction and casualties, during early October 2017, before making landfall on the US Gulf Coast. The fourteenth named storm and ninth hurricane of the extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Nate originated from a broad area of low pressure over the southwestern Caribbean on October 3. The disturbance moved northwest, organizing into a tropical depression the next day and attaining tropical storm intensity early on October 5. The storm made landfall in Nicaragua that same day and continued into Honduras with little change in strength. Nate began steady intensification over the warm waters of the northwestern Caribbean Sea shortly thereafter. It attained hurricane strength while moving through the Yucatán Channel early on October 7, attaining peak winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) in the central Gulf of Mexico later that day. Early on the next day, Nate made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. After crossing the marshland of the Mississippi Delta, it made its second U.S. landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi early on October 8, causing a storm surge to flood the ground floors of coastal casinos and buildings, as well as causing rip currents, hurricane-force winds, and beach erosion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricanes in Costa Rica</span>

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers. Hurricanes are uncommon in the country, as only eighteen have been recorded in history.

References

  1. "Costa Rica retirement not always tropical paradise Archived 2016-01-20 at the Wayback Machine ", Marketplace Watch, 31 May 2013
  2. "Living in Costa Rica", ideal-LIVING, 22 December 2007