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Demographic Overview
Home » Costa Rica » The People and Culture of Costa Rica » Demographic OverviewPosted by Your Guide on May 10, 2006 5:00 PM
The culture of the Costa Rican people is as beautiful, complex and intriguing as the country’s landscape. The commonplace phrase used universally by the Costa Ricans, “Pura Vida,” illustrates the overall attitude of the laid back and friendly people that inhabit this great country. Pura Vida translates literally to “Pure Life,” but is used as a colloquial salutation between Costa Ricans that roughly means, “This is living!” This is representative of the hospitable way Costa Ricans adore and respect each other’s company and lifestyles.
Costa Rica is comprised of over 4 million people who inhabit the diverse landscapes and regions of the country. Most of the people in Costa Rica are descendents of the Spanish settlers who landed in the area in the 16th century. There is also a significant number of Europeans from countries such as Germany, Poland and Italy that reside here. Together with the Spanish descendents, these groups make up 94% of the population. Black Jamaican immigrant workers who landed in the area in the 19th century as slaves still make up about 3% of the population, while another 1% is comprised of Asian ethnic groups. Unlike its neighboring countries, there is a very small population of indigenous people, or natives, who still live in Costa Rica. Nicaragua and Panama had quite sophisticated and complex Indian civilizations consisting of Aztecs, Mayans and Incas, but these people never bothered to migrate to Costa Rica because of the treacherous and impassable terrain. Therefore, only about 29,000 descendents from the early Costa Rican tribes are left in the country today. The rest of the population is comprised of a small amount of Americans and Canadians – most of which are retirees.
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