Costa Rica - Demographics

Demographics

The 2011 census counted a population of 4,301,712 people. Whites, castizos and mestizos 83.63%, while 1.05% are Black, or Afro-Caribbean, 6.12% Mulattoes, 2.4% Native American, 0.2% Chinese, and 6.6% other. The average Costa Rican from the Central Valley is 75% European, 20% Amerindian and 5% Black.

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).

The population of European ancestry is primarily of Spanish descent, with significant numbers of Italian, German, English, Dutch, French, Irish, Portuguese, Lebanese, Moroccan, Syrian and Polish families, as well a sizable Jewish community. The majority of the Afro-Costa Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of 19th century black Jamaican immigrant workers.

The 2011 census classified 83.63% of the population as white, castizo or mestizo, Mulattoes (mix of white and black) represent now 6.12% of the total population, 2.4% as Amerindian, 2% as black and less than 1% as asian. Native and European mixed blood populations are far less than in other Latin American countries. Exceptions are Guanacaste, where almost half the population is visibly mestizo, a legacy of the more pervasive unions between Spanish colonists and Chorotega Amerindians through several generations, and Limón, where the vast majority of the Afro-Costa Rican community lives.

Costa Rica hosts many refugees, mainly from Colombia and Nicaragua. As a result of that and illegal immigration, an estimated 10–15% (400,000–600,000) of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans. Some Nicaraguans migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country. Costa Rica took in many refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 1980s, notably from Chile and Argentina, as well as people from El Salvador who fled from guerrillas and government death squads.

According to the World Bank, in 2010 about 489,200 immigrants lived in the country, mainly from Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize, while 125,306 Costa Ricans live abroad in the United States, Panama, Nicaragua, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador.