The People of Costa Rica

Costa Rica isn’t just known for its stunning beaches, lush rainforests, and incredible wildlife—it’s also home to some of the warmest and most welcoming people you’ll ever meet. Known as Ticos (a friendly nickname for Costa Ricans), the locals embrace a laid-back way of life known as “Pura Vida”—a phrase that means much more than just “pure life.” It’s a philosophy of gratitude, simplicity, and joy that you’ll feel from the moment you arrive.

Costa Ricans come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. "We are all Ticos," is the proud claim, though some fare better than others. 

Racially and ethnically, Costa Rica is not a simple place. Along with the overwhelming majority of Spanish-heritage Costa Ricans, there are four other distinct ethnic groups. 

• The people of Guanacaste have dark skin and resemble their Nicaraguan neighbors in manner and accent.
• Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica, who were here long before the Spanish, belong to six discrete linguistic groups. Though they increasingly speak Spanish, they still debate whether it is more important to retain their indigenous cultural identity or to assimilate more into mainstream Costa Rican culture. 
• Black Costa Ricans of the Atlantic Coast are the country’s largest immigrant minority; they speak Caribbean-accented English and talk with pride of their Jamaican heritage. 
• Chinese-Costa Ricans are often descendants of indentured laborers; many own the bars, restaurants, and stores, especially in small towns. 

Despite the diverse nature of its population, Costa Rica’s various ethnic groups were only officially recognized in 2014, when the Constitution was amended as a measure to counter racism and discrimination.

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Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica

Archaeologists, using very different methods of calculating populations, estimate that anywhere from 30,000 to 400,000 Native Americans lived in Costa Rica when Columbus arrived.

Today, about 70,000 Native Costa Ricans remain, although it is hard to establish an accurate figure since many Indigenous people have had mixed marriages.

The effects of colonization

The history of the Native Americans of Costa Rica is much like that of other Indigenous peoples of the American continent.

The Europeans brought diseases to which the Native populations had no immunity, and entire communities were obliterated. In pre-Columbian times:

• The Chorotegas (cousins of the Nicaro) inhabited Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula. They lived in patrimonial groups, grew corn, and were culturally similar to groups from southern Mexico. These peoples were devastated during the Spanish Conquest by disease and slave traders, who shipped them off to Panamá and Peru. Their surviving descendants are today mostly integrated into contemporary Costa Rican life.
• Other Native groups spoke dialects originating in Colombia. They were divided into clans, to which the Spanish gave names, and their original names are mostly lost to history.
• The Guaymí call themselves Ngabe, pronounced Nobe.
• The other clans were named Terraba, Boruca, Bribri, and Cabecar.

These people lived in matrilineal societies in clearings in the jungles. With the coming of the Europeans, many of them fled to the almost inaccessible jungle regions of the southern mountains.

Much of their culture has been preserved by their descendants, who still speak their original languages and live in the remote regions of the Talamanca mountains.

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Religious and cultural traditions

Despite the influence of Christian missionaries, many Native people have not forsaken their animistic religious traditions.

• The Bribri call their deity Sibu and trust in shamans, with their vast knowledge of the rainforest’s medicinal herbs, to cure a range of illnesses.
• Farther south, along the Panamá border, the Guaymí continue to live in their traditional areas, which span political boundaries.
   

Challenges for indigenous communities

No matter how remote their jungle reserves, the Native Americans are still not insulated from contemporary culture.

• Television brings pressure to consume soft drinks and junk food, as well as images of the First World to these people who live for the most part without electricity and running water.
• Alcohol is another problem, with some migrant workers spending a week’s wages at the local bar, while wives and children wait anxiously outside.

Struggles for indigenous rights

Today, Indigenous peoples live on reserves designated for their use since 1971. By law, non-Native people cannot own land inside these areas, but this has been difficult to enforce.

Non-Native Americans have gradually moved into these territories, which just happen to contain a significant proportion of the country’s mineral wealth.

Encroaching contemporary society threatens the Indigenous peoples’ language, their cultural identity, and their way of life.
Caught in time between two worlds, slowly relinquishing the old but not yet embracing the new, Native peoples are extremely vulnerable.

Many NGOs and humanitarian groups are involved today in building schools and providing medical services in remote reserves to support them.

But in the five centuries since the European conquest, little has changed for the Native Costa Rican people.

Other ethnic groups in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is often associated with its predominantly Mestizo population, but the country is home to a rich tapestry of ethnic groups. Afro-Caribbeans, Indigenous communities, Chinese immigrants, and European settlers have all shaped its cultural landscape. Their histories, migrations, and contributions continue to influence modern Costa Rican society in profound ways.

Origins and migration 

As early as 1825, African-Caribbeans came to Costa Rica to fish, hunt turtles, and market coconuts. These immigrants were part of a migration from the West Indies to the Central American Caribbean coast. 

Many were transient workers, moving between Panamá, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. 

The Atlantic Railroad and forced labor 

In 1872, under contract from Minor C. Keith (founder of the United Fruit Company), thousands of Black migrants from the West Indies came to build the Atlantic railroad.

They endured harsh, disease-ridden conditions and oppressive management. The maltreatment of workers in the banana fields of the Caribbean United Fruit Company is well documented. 

The West Indians were certainly not invulnerable and died in their thousands while building: 

• The railway tracks 
• The bridges 
• The docks 
• The port city of Limón