Demographics of Costa Rica - Population and Ancestry

Population and Ancestry

In 2009, Costa Rica has a populations of 4,579,000 and it's increasing at a rate of 1.5% per year, still relatively high. If this rate continues, the population will increase to 9,158,000 in about 46 years. The population density is nearly 90 people per square km, the third highest in Central America.

Today most Costa Ricans are of primarily Spanish ancestry with minorities of German, Italian, French, Dutch, British, Swedish and Greek ancestry. 40% being White, 40% Castizo, and 14% being Mestizo. European and western-oriented, plus American pop culture has a large impact in Costa Rica, also thrived in a fairly democratic prosperous economy.

European immigration used Costa Rica to get across the isthmus of Central America as well to emigrate on the USA West Coast (California) in the late 19th century and to the 1910s before the Panama Canal opened. Other Europeans ethnic groups known to lives in Costa Rica are Russians, Danes, Belgians, Portuguese, Croats, Hungarians, Turks, Armenians and Georgians. Without a doubt Costa Rica is the Central American country with the largest white population.

Costa Rica has three small minority groups: blacks, Indians and Asians (mostly Chinese). Blacks represent about 3% of the population. Indians and Asians represent 1.5% each.

Blacks live along the Caribbean coast. Their ancestors came to Costa Rica from Jamaica in the late 19th century to build railroads and to work on the banana plantations. The Indians live primarily in isolated communities in the highlands and along both coasts. Most of them still keep their traditional ways of life.

Nearly all Costa Ricans speak Spanish; but many blacks speak a traditional Jamaican dialect of the English, also most of the Indians speak their own language. According to the World Factbook the main religions are: Roman Catholic, 76.3%; Evangelical, 13.7%; Jehovah's Witnesses, 1.3%; other Protestant, 0.7%; other, 4.8%; none, 3.2%.

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, one of the highest among developing countries.