Culture of Costa Rica

Population and Ancestry

Young Costa Rican hermano y hermana on a bike rideMany of the Spanish colonists who settled in Costa Rica during the 1500's and 1600's married native Indians. Their descendants are called mestizos. Today, whites and mestizos of unmixed ancestry consist of more than 97 per cent of Costa Rica's population. In addition to mestizos and whites, Costa Rica has two small minority groups - about 70,000 blacks and about 10,000 Indians. The majority of the blacks live along the Caribbean coast. During the late 1800's ancestors of Costa Rica's black population came to the country from Jamaica to build railroads and to work on the banana plantations. The Indians of Costa Rica live, for the most part, in isolated communities in the highlands and along the Caribbean and Pacific shores. They keep their tribes' traditional ways of life.

Costa Ricans take great pride in their country's heritage of democratic government and social equality. The also value their own personal dignity and strong family ties. Nearly all Costa Ricans speak Spanish. However, many blacks speak a Jamaican dialect of English. About 90 per cent of Costa Ricans belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

Housing

About half of all Costa Ricans live on farms or in rural towns. Many farmers live in adobe cottages with white stucco walls and red or pink-tiled roofs. Other farmers live in brightly painted wooden houses. Most city people live in row houses. Such houses look much alike and are attached to one another in a row. Many Costa Ricans decorate their homes with plants and flowers. Some of the more affluent families in Costa Rica own large ranch-style or Spanish-style homes surrounded by gardens.

Food

The diet of most Costa Ricans includes beans, coffee, corn, eggs and rice. In addition, many tropical fruits such as bananas, oranges, guavas, mangoes and pineapples are common. Most families also serve beef, fish, poultry, and many kinds of soups. The often prepare tamales (ground pork and corn meal steamed in corn husks) and tortillas (thin corn-meal pancakes).

Education

About 93 per cent of Costa Rica's people can read and write, a higher percentage than in any other Central American country. By Costa Rican law, all children are required to complete elementary school. Students graduating from elementary school may attend secondary school, which, upon graduation, enables them to enter a university. The country has several universities, including the National University in Heredia and the University of Costa Rica near San José.

Recreation

Costa Ricans enjoy spending their leisure time outdoors. Many of them play football (soccer), the national sport, in neighborhood fields. Basketball, tennis, and swimming are also popular. Many Costa Ricans take part in colorful festivals on religious holidays. Bullfights, fireworks, and masked parades attract thousands of Costa Ricans and foreign tourists to San José during the annual Christmas festivals.

Tourists from all over the world, enjoy visiting Costa Rica's wealth of national parks. Costa Rica's national park system includes sandy beaches where sea turtles lay their eggs, tropical rain forests home to diverse species of monkeys and colorful birds, as well as several active volcanoes.

You will also see Costa Rican families appreciating the daily miracle of the sunset (puesta del sol). Young men surf the sunset session, often when the waves are best, while their younger counterparts play in the sand on the beach.