Costa Ricans

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Costa Ricans
Costarricenses
Flag of Costa Rica.svg
Map of the Costa Rican Diaspora in the World.svg
Map of the Costa Rican Diaspora in the World
Total population
Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica           5.13 million
Regions with significant populations
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 96,903 [1]
Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 11,281 [1]
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 9,320 [1]
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 4,505 [1]
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 4,252 [1]
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 3,430 [1]
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 2,097 [1]
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1,828 [1]
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1,658; 523 (2022) [1]
Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 1,248 [1]
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 1,097 [1]
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 1,061 [1]
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 1,027 [1]
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 978 [1]
Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 889 [1]
Flag of Honduras.svg  Honduras 879 [1]
Flag of France.svg  France 858 [1]
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 712 [1]
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 638 [1]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 580 [1]
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 490 [1]
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 483 [1]
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 349 [1]
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 320 [1]
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 320 [1]
Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti 267 [1]
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 220 [1]
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 196 [1]
Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 162 [1]
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 158 [1]
Languages
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic,; [2] Protestant, Buddhist and other religious minorities exist
Related ethnic groups

Costa Ricans (Spanish : Costarricenses, colloquially known as Ticos) are the citizens of Costa Rica, a multiethnic, [3] Spanish-speaking nation in Central America. Costa Ricans are predominantly Mestizos, other ethnic groups people of Indigenous, European, African, and Asian (predominantly Chinese) descent. [4]

Contents

By 2018, Costa Rica has a population of 5,000,000 people. The population growth rate between 2005 and 2010 was estimated to be 1.5% annually, with a birth rate of 17.8 live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 4.1 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. By 2016, the population had increased to about 4.9 million. [5]

Costa Rica was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl cultural influence when the Spanish conquerors (conquistadores) came in the 16th century. The central and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences. The Atlantic coast, meanwhile, was populated with Jamaican immigrant workers during the 19th century. The country has received immigration from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas etc. Historically, the largest immigrant diaspora in Costa Rica are people from Nicaragua and Central America's Northern Triangle.

History

Costa Rica was one of the relatively more isolated populations of the New Spain viceroyalty Political divisions of Mexico 1821 (location map scheme).svg
Costa Rica was one of the relatively more isolated populations of the New Spain viceroyalty
Average Costa Rican Family - Early Twentieth Century. Familia campesina. Costa Rica. 1900.JPG
Average Costa Rican Family - Early Twentieth Century.

The colonial period began when Christopher Columbus reached the eastern coast of Costa Rica on his fourth voyage in 1502. Several subsequent expeditions followed, eventually leading to the first Spanish colony, Villa Bruselas, in Costa Rica in 1524. [6]

During most of the colonial period, Costa Rica was the southernmost province of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which was nominally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (i.e., Mexico), but which in practice operated as a largely autonomous entity within the Spanish Empire. Costa Rica's distance from the capital in Guatemala, its legal prohibition under Spanish law to trade with its southern neighbors in Panama, then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (i.e., Colombia), and the lack of resources such as gold and silver, made Costa Rica into a poor, isolated, and sparsely inhabited region within the Spanish Empire. [7] Costa Rica was described as "the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America" by a Spanish governor in 1719. [8]

Another important factor behind Costa Rica's poverty was the lack of a significant indigenous population available for forced labor, which meant that most of the Costa Rican settlers had to work on their own land, preventing the establishment of large haciendas . For all these reasons, Costa Rica was unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop independently. The small landowners' relative poverty, the lack of a large indigenous labor force, the population's ethnic and linguistic homogeneity, and Costa Rica's isolation from the Spanish colonial centers in Mexico and the Andes all contributed to the development of an autonomous and individualistic agrarian society. Even the Governor had to farm his own crops and tend to his own garden due to the poverty that he lived in. An egalitarian tradition also arose. Costa Rica became a "rural democracy" with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil and a milder climate than that of the lowlands. [9]

Ethnic groups

Costa Rican children. CostaRicans-m.jpg
Costa Rican children.
Chavela Vargas Mixed-Costa Rican Born - Singer Chavela Vargas 060701-cropped.jpg
Chavela Vargas Mixed-Costa Rican Born - Singer
Harry Shum Jr Asian-Costa Rican - Glee Actor/Dancer Harry Shum by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Harry Shum Jr Asian-Costa Rican - Glee Actor/Dancer
Joel Campbell Afro-Costa Rican Football Player Joel Campbell'14.JPG
Joel Campbell Afro-Costa Rican Football Player
Claudia Poll, Euro-Costa Rican, Gold-Medalist Olympic Swimmer Claudia Poll.jpg
Claudia Poll, Euro-Costa Rican, Gold-Medalist Olympic Swimmer
Keylor Navas Native Costa Rican - Real Madrid Goalkeeper RealM-Shahter15 (9).jpg
Keylor Navas Native Costa Rican - Real Madrid Goalkeeper

A question on ethnic or racial ancestral origins was previously asked in the 1927 and 1950 census. The most-recent official 2022 census asked people to identify using multiple options including indigenous, Black or Afro-descendant, Mulatto, Chinese, Mestizo, white and other on (Question 7) section IV. [10]

As of 2019, most Costa Ricans are primarily of Spanish ancestry with minorities of Nicaraguan, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, British, Irish, Jamaican, Greek, mixed, or other Latin American ancestries.

Europeans or white

European migrants used Costa Rica to cross the isthmus of Central America and to reach the USA's West Coast (California) in the late 19th century and until the 1910s (before the Panama Canal opened).

Many of the first Spanish colonists in Costa Rica may have been Jewish converts to Christianity who were expelled from Spain in 1492 and fled to colonial backwaters to avoid the Inquisition. According to DNA tests from Ancestry.com and 23&me most of the original Costa Rican population from the Central Valley have around 1-3% Sephardi Jewish DNA. [11] The first sizable group of self-identified Jews immigrated from Poland, beginning in 1929. From the 1930s to the early 1950s, journalistic and official anti-Semitic campaigns fueled harassment of Jews; however, by the 1950s and 1960s, the immigrants won greater acceptance. Most of the 3,500 Costa Rican Jews today are not highly observant but remain primarily endogamous. [12]

Afro-descendants

Costa Rica has four small minority groups: Mulattos, Blacks, Amerindians and Asians. About 8% of the population is of African descent or Mulatto (mix of European and African) who are called Afro-Costa Ricans, English-speaking descendants of 19th century Afro-Jamaican immigrant workers.

In 1873, the Atlantic Railroad imported 653 Chinese indentured laborers, hoping to duplicate the success of rail projects that used Chinese labor in Peru, Cuba, and the United States. Asians represent less than 0.5% of the Costa Rican population.

Indigenous

There are also over 104,000 Native American or indigenous inhabitants, representing 2.4% of the population. Most of them live in secluded reservations, distributed among eight ethnic groups: Quitirrisí (in the Central Valley), Matambú or Chorotega (Guanacaste), Maleku (northern Alajuela), Bribri (southern Atlantic), Cabécar (Cordillera de Talamanca), Guaymí (southern Costa Rica, along the Panamá border), Boruca (southern Costa Rica) and Térraba (southern Costa Rica).

Today, according to modern DNA test data, the average Costa Rican (with 4 Costa Rican grand-parents) from the Central Valley is around 59% and 75% European, mainly Spanish, Basque, or Portuguese, with around 15% - 35% Native American DNA from Central America or Colombia/Venezuela and 1-10% African particularly from Cameroon, Senegal or Congo on average. Native Americans from other regions in the Americas, European Jewish, Italian, Irish, and Asian/Middle Eastern DNA can also be traced in part of the current Costa Rican population. Values vary drastically per region.

Immigration

A considerable portion of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans. [13] There is also a number of Colombian refugees. Moreover, Costa Rica took in many refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s – notably from El Salvador, Chile, Cuba, and recently from Venezuela.

Immigrants represent 15% of the Costa Rican population, the largest in Central America and the Caribbean. By 2019 the largest Immigrant Diasporas in Costa Rica are people from: Nicaragua, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, and the United States.

Population

Approximately 40% live in rural areas and 60% in urban areas. The rate of urbanization estimated for the period 2005–2010 is 2.3% per annum, [14] one of the highest among developing countries.

ProvinceProvince populationCityCity population
San Jose Province 1,345,750 San Jose de Costa Rica 350,535
Alajuela Province 716,286 Alajuela 46,554
Cartago Province 432,395 Cartago 156,600
Puntarenas Province 357,483 Puntarenas 102,504
Heredia Province 354,732 Heredia 42,600
Limon Province 339,395 Puerto Limon 105,000
Guanacaste Province 264,238 Liberia 98,751

Languages

Distribution of voseo:
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
spoken + written
primarily spoken
spoken, alternating with tuteo
absent Voseo-extension-real.PNG
Distribution of voseo:
  spoken + written
  primarily spoken
  spoken, alternating with tuteo
  absent

The primary language spoken in Costa Rica is Costa Rican Spanish; one of the main particularities of Costa Rica Spanish is the usage of the second person singular pronoun vos (called voseo) or usted instead of . Some native languages are still spoken in indigenous reservations. The most numerically important are the Bribri, Maléku, Cabécar, and Ngäbere languages, some of which have several thousand speakers in Costa Rica and others a few hundred. Some languages, such as Teribe and Boruca, have fewer than a thousand speakers. A Creole-English language, Jamaican patois (or Mekatelyu), is spoken along the Caribbean coast. About 10.7% of Costa Rica's adult population (18 or older) also speaks English, 0.7% French, and 0.3% speaks Portuguese or German as a second language. Mennonite immigrants to the country also speak Plautdietsch.

Religion

Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels), during 2007 pilgrimage Basilica de los Angeles 2007.jpg
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels), during 2007 pilgrimage

Christianity is the predominant religion, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time guarantees freedom of religion. [15]

According to the most recent nationwide survey of religion, conducted in 2007 by the University of Costa Rica, 70.5% of Costa Ricans are Roman Catholics, 44.9% are practicing Catholics, 13.8% are evangelical Protestants, 11.3% report they do not have a religion, and 4.3% belonged to another religion.

Because of the recent small but continuous immigration from Asia (including West Asia/the Middle East), other religions have grown, the most popular being Buddhism (because of a growing Han Chinese community of 40,000), and smaller numbers of followers of the Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Baháʼí Faiths.

The Sinagoga Shaarei Zion synagogue [16] is near La Sabana Metropolitan Park in San José. Several homes in the neighborhood east of the park display the Star of David and other Jewish symbols. [17]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) claim more than 35,000 members and has a temple in San Jose that served as a regional worship center for Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras. [18] However, they represent less than one percent of the population. [19] [20]

Emigration and immigration

Family of German immigrants in Costa Rica. Familia Peters.PNG
Family of German immigrants in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica's emigration is the smallest in the Caribbean Basin and is among the smallest in the Americas. By 2015 about just 133,185 (2,77%) of the country's people live in another country as immigrants. The main destination countries are the United States (85,924), Nicaragua (10,772), Panama (7,760), Canada (5,039), Spain (3,339), Mexico (2,464), Germany (1,891), Italy (1,508), Guatemala (1,162) and Venezuela (1,127). [21] In 2005, there were 127,061 Costa Ricans living in another country as immigrants. Remittances were $513,000,000 in 2006 and they represented 2.3% of the country's GDP.

Costa Rica's immigration is among the largest in the Caribbean Basin. Immigrants represent about 10.2% of the Costa Rican population. The main countries of origin are Nicaragua, Colombia, United States and El Salvador. In 2005, 440,957 people lived in the country as immigrants. Outward Remittances were $246,000,000 in 2006.

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. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly 51,180 km2 (19,760 sq mi). An estimated 352,381 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">History of Costa Rica</span>

The first indigenous peoples of Costa Rica were hunters and gatherers, and when the Spanish conquerors arrived, Costa Rica was divided in two distinct cultural areas due to its geographical location in the Intermediate Area, between Mesoamerican and the Andean cultures, with influences of both cultures.

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

This is a demographic article about Costa Rica's population, 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">Central America</span> Subregion of the Americas

Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from southern Mexico to southeastern 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">Demographics of Nicaragua</span>

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects, Nicaragua has a population of 6,850,540..According to a 2014 research published in the journal Genetics and Molecular Biology, European ancestry predominates in 69% of Nicaraguans, followed by African ancestry in 20%, and lastly indigenous ancestry in 11%. A Japanese research of "Genomic Components in America's demography" demonstrated that, on average, the ancestry of Nicaraguans is 58–62% European, 28% Native American, and 14% African, with a very small Near Eastern contribution. Non-genetic data from the CIA World Factbook establish that from Nicaragua's 2016 population of 5,966,798, around 69% are mestizo, 17% white, 5% Native American, and 9% black and other races. This fluctuates with changes in migration patterns. The population is 58% urban as of 2013.

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

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

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">Limón Province</span> Province of Costa Rica

Limón is one of seven provinces in Costa Rica. The province covers an area of 9,189 km2, and has a population of 386,862.

Afro–Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans are Latin Americans who claim begin of full or mainly sub-Saharan African ancestry. Biologically, a significant majority of population in each country have african genes.

<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.

Latin Americans are the citizens of Latin American countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Central America</span>

Central America is a subregion of the Americas formed by six Latin American countries and one (officially) Anglo-American country, Belize. As an isthmus it connects South America with the remainder of mainland North America, and comprises the following countries : Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

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">Afro–Costa Ricans</span> Costa Ricans of African ancestry

Afro–Costa Ricans are Costa Ricans of African ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Central America–related articles</span>

This is an index of Central America-related articles. This index defines Central America as the seven nations of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

The western Caribbean zone is a region consisting of the Caribbean coasts of Central America and Colombia, from the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico to the Caribbean region in northern Colombia, and the islands west of Jamaica are also included. The zone emerged in the late sixteenth century as the Spanish failed to completely conquer many sections of the coast, and northern European powers supported opposition to Spain, sometimes through alliances with local powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaicans</span> Citizens of Jamaica and their descendants

Jamaicans are the citizens of Jamaica and their descendants in the Jamaican diaspora. The vast majority of Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African descent, with minorities of Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and others of mixed ancestry. The bulk of the Jamaican diaspora resides in other Anglophone countries, namely Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Jamaican populations are also prominent in other Caribbean countries, territories and Commonwealth realms, where in the Cayman Islands, born Jamaicans, as well as Caymanians of Jamaican origin, make up 26.8% of the population. Outside of Anglophone countries, the largest Jamaican diaspora community lives in Central America, where Jamaicans make up a significant percentage of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-Nicaraguans</span> Nicaraguans of African descent

Afro-Nicaraguans are Nicaraguans of Sub-Saharan African descent. Five main distinct ethnic groups exist: The Creoles who descend from Anglo-Caribbean countries and many of whom still speak Nicaragua English Creole, the Miskito Sambus descendants of Spanish slaves and indigenous Central Americans who still speak Miskito and/or Miskito Coast Creole, the Garifunas descendants of Zambos expelled from St. Vincent who speak Garifuna, the Rama Cay zambos a subset of the Miskito who speak Rama Cay Creole, and the descendants of those enslaved by the Spanish.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panamanians</span> People identified with the country Panama

Panamanians are people identified with Panama, a country in Central America, and with residential, legal, historical, or cultural connections with North America. For most Panamanians, several or all of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their Panamanian identity. Panama is a multilingual and multicultural society, home to people of many different ethnicities and religions. Therefore, many Panamanians do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Panama. The overwhelming majority of Panamanians are the product of varying degrees of admixture between European ethnic groups with native Amerindians and Black Africans.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 "Costa Rica - Emigrantes totales". expansion.com/ Datosmacro.com (in Spanish).
  2. "Las religiones en tiempos del Papa Francisco" (in Spanish). Latinobarómetro. April 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  3. "Lawmakers vote to define Costa Rica as a multiethnic, plurinational country". The Tico Times. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  4. Costa Rica es multirracial, último censo lo pone en evidencia
  5. "Capital Facts for San José, Costa Rica". 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  6. "Costa Rica History". Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  7. "A Brief History of Costa Rica: Colonial Times". Archived from the original on September 22, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
  8. Shafer, D. Michael (1994). Winners and losers: how sectors shape the developmental prospects of states . Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN   0-8014-8188-0.
  9. "Costa Rica – Cartago". Costarica.com. 2009-05-22. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  10. "INEC Cuestionario Censo 2022" (PDF). INEC. 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  11. "The Jewish Community in Costa Rica" . Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  12. "Culture of Costa Rica - history, people, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social, marriage" . Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  13. www.state.gov Background Note: Costa Rica – People
  14. Central Intelligence Agency (2011). "Costa Rica". The World Factbook. Langley, Virginia: Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  15. "International Religious Freedom Report for 2017". www.state.gov. 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  16. Centro Israelita de Costa Rica, Comunidad Judía de Costa Rica, Costa Rican Jewish Community
  17. "Jewish Community in Costa Rica". Jcpa.org. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  18. Costa Rica Archived 2010-08-25 at the Wayback Machine . LDS Newsroom. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  19. "San José Costa Rica LDS (Mormon) Temple". Ldschurchtemples.com. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  20. "List of LDS (Mormon) temples in Central America and the Caribbean". Lds.org. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  21. Costa Rica - Emigrantes totales (in spanish) Según los últimos datos publicados Costa Rica tiene 133.185 emigrantes, lo que supone un 2,77% de la población de Costa Rica. Si miramos el ranking de emigrantes vemos que tiene un porcentaje de emigrantes medio, ya que está en el puesto 44º de los 195 del ranking de emigrantes.