Pre-Columbian peoples
Even if it is possible to admire the most beautiful pieces of pre-Columbian craftsmanship in the two museums of San José: the Gold Museum and the Jade Museum (the most important jade museum of the continent), the vestiges of the pre-Columbian past are rare, and even almost absent from Costa Rican territory. Only the site of Guayabo still testifies to the greatness of a past that is now over. Before the arrival of the Conquistadors, Costa Rica had 400,000 inhabitants, but colonization led to significant losses: today the ethnocultural groups of Costa Rica total only 50,000 people. The different ethnic groups that occupied this small territory were distinguished from each other by their origins, their languages and their diverse customs. Nevertheless, all the richness and complexity that made up these human societies fell into oblivion when they came up against the Spanish Conquest, determined to profoundly renew the beliefs and ways of life of the First Nations. Generally speaking, each community was led by a cacique whose importance was determined by the size of the territory and the number of inhabitants. The federation of several villages formed a "caciquat", the most important of which, at the arrival of the Spanish settlers, was that of Nicoya.
The main ethnic group in the North Pacific was the Chorotega, a people from the Aztec city of Cholula in Mexico. Settled in the northwest of Costa Rica around the ninth century, the Chorotegas cultivated corn, squash, cotton, tobacco, but also beans and cocoa. Their crafts, inherited from the Maya people, were expressed through the work of ceramics (jars, statuettes, etc.) and the work of jade. Like the Maya, they had their own calendar, based on astronomy, and their own writing system. Three great annual festivals marking the great stages of the culture of corn governed the calendar. Their villages, with several thousand inhabitants, were organized around squares, markets and temples. Real political and social structures governed the three main social classes. One thus distinguished the priests, the warriors and the prisoners of war, intended for the human sacrifices.
Further south, in the rainforest, the Brunkas occupied the entire area of the Sierra de Talamanca. Descendants of the Chibcha culture, a pre-Columbian community in present-day Colombia, they were experts in the craft techniques of gold work: they meticulously made necklaces and bracelets as well as traditional masks. Today, their work is still recognized and many art lovers buy objects made with their know-how. The Brunkas are also famous for their strange stone spheres whose meaning and use are unknown. Located on the Osa Peninsula and perfectly spherical, they can weigh up to sixteen tons and reach a diameter of two meters! Like the Chorotegas, they cultivated corn, but also beans and cotton.
On the Caribbean coast, the Huetares occupied almost the entire Atlantic coastline and could be found as far as the Central Valley. Hunters, gatherers, but also farmers, they made cassava and sweet potato the basis of their diet. Specialized in the work of volcanic stone, they dedicated themselves to the sculpture of altars decorated with human and animal figures. Only few traces of their architecture remain: the only notable monument of the Huetar culture are the ruins of Guayabo, a city built between the sixth and tenth centuries of our era, and abandoned around 1400 for reasons still unknown, even though excavations are still in progress on the ancient city of Guayabo which would have been inhabited by about ten thousand souls.
The Costa Ricans of today
For a long time, the population of Costa Rica only counted a few tens of thousands of inhabitants. The colonization, slow and difficult, caused heavy losses and the immigration was a little frightening: in 1800, the country counted hardly 50 000 inhabitants. In 1920, there were only 420,000, then 620,000 in 1940 and finally 800,000 in 1950. By the 1984 census, the population was 2.4 million. The annual growth rate for the last few decades has been 2.1%. With a population of 5.1 million in 2021, Costa Rica, like most of the world, is experiencing a downward trend. The population is relatively young (about a third of them are under 15 years old).
Throughout the 20th century, 70% of Costa Ricans still lived in the countryside! For a long time rural, the population has been strongly urbanized since the 2000's along with the tourist boom. Its opening to the international market has also caused some changes: for some years, Costa Rica has been welcoming many Americans and more and more Europeans. They came first as tourists, but more and more of them are choosing to live in Costa Rica in order to live happily in their retirement. Some towns, such as Tamarindo on the Pacific coast, speak almost more English than Spanish!
Long forgotten, the Amerindian communities have gradually gained recognition for their people and their reserve. They often live far from the cities and paved roads and are not yet integrated into Costa Rican society, wishing to preserve their culture and traditions. As in the majority of countries with indigenous minorities, Costa Rica has not maintained the same development of living conditions for everyone: the Amerindian communities, although mostly self-sufficient, live in a marginalized manner. Illiterate, living in dilapidated housing, without schools or electricity, the people of these communities do not always benefit from Western progress and modernity.
Multiple identities and ethno-cultural minorities
The population of Costa Rica is highly mixed. Here, the word "white" refers to a wide range of skin colors (from light white to dark tan) and the term "black" applies only to descendants of African slaves. Home to many European populations, the country is, according to the latest census, 93% white, 3% black, 3% Asian and 1% native American Indian. But why so much diversity for such a small country? This multicultural richness comes from different historical episodes. For example, in the 19th century, the construction of the railroads attracted Chinese and Jamaican workers. Then, at the end of the 19th century, many English, Irish, German, Polish, Italian and Basque immigrants settled in the area. Before the Second World War, fleeing the rise of Nazism, European Jews, Lebanese and Turks followed the movement. Then, faced with the Latin American dictatorships that hit Chile, Uruguay and Argentina in the second half of the 20th century, many South Americans decided to flee and take refuge in Costa Rica.
But among all these waves of migrations, a population with a very particular past has settled in Costa Rica for several generations: mostly represented in the region of Limon, the Afro-descendants maintain with pride the essence of a Caribbean culture marked by nostalgia, music, history and crossbreeding. Puerto Limon still carries these cultural and musical influences, which can be found in the calypso, popularized in the English-speaking Caribbean, but originating in West Africa. Rhythmic music and a real political weapon, the calypso was imported to Costa Rica at the same time as the Jamaican slaves, until the 20th century. It is still present in the lives of the inhabitants of the Caribbean coast: everyone knows it and everyone dances it! For a long time excluded from the Spanish-American population, the black communities were not able to benefit from civil rights and were subjected to xenophobic measures such as avoiding mixing with other populations under penalty of "physiological degeneration and the development of idleness and vice". In the 1920s and 1930s, these same communities did not have access to skilled jobs. By the time World War II broke out, these protests led to a law banning black, Chinese and Arab people from entering the country. It wasn't until the Second Republic in 1948 that the discriminatory laws disappeared.
Today, Native Americans have 22 reservations and territories throughout the country. However, for a long time, the country has neglected the Amerindian communities with their thousand-year-old history. Over the years, laws and decrees have protected the lands of these ancestral communities, but unfortunately, they are affected by the growth of the Western economy and some lands are often illegally bought by foreign companies. Attached to their traditions and living in isolation, some ethnic groups are wary of outside visitors: to be accepted in some communities, you will have to go through rituals to avoid transmitting diseases or bringing in evil spirits. Great connoisseurs of their environment, they maintain a way of life very close to nature. The spiritual and cultural heritage tries to be transmitted to the following generations. The Maleku and the Bribris are among the oldest Costa Rican communities. The Maleku people, who have faced many upheavals in history, live in the northern plains of Costa Rica. Spread over three reserves, there are only 600 of them left. The Bribris, scattered in the southern part of the Cordillera de Talamanca, are the largest ethnic people of the country. Of Aztec origin and followers of shamanism, they are said to number 10,000 people spread over three reserves. With a past of more than 5,000 years and far from any form of civilization, the Bribris live in self-sufficiency. However, this does not prevent them from being very open to tourism. To reach their villages nestled in the forest, you will have to take 4x4 tracks through the intricate jungle and then continue your journey aboard a dugout. Emblematic people of Costa Rica, they perpetuate a singular link with their lands. In plots cultivated in the heart of the jungle, they work the cocoa beans and make chocolate. Corn is still used to produce chicha, the traditional drink. If you visit the Malekus or the Bribris, the village chiefs will certainly make you taste a small cup of this fermented corn alcohol!
Pura vida mae
Costa Rica is without a doubt the country with the greatest notoriety in Central America despite a population limited to 5 million inhabitants. This popularity is due to its welcoming and generous people. Happy to share the treasures of their country, the population is particularly warm and open to international tourism. Lovers of life and respectful of the wildlife that surrounds them, they honor each day with the most famous saying of the country: "Pura vida" (which could be translated as "everything is fine"), perfectly translates the philosophy of the country. Cherish the moment, it is the principle of life in Costa Rica. "Pura vida" captures this vision of the world, this joy of living, as well as being a widely used phrase to greet your fellow man.
Although the official language of Costa Rica is Spanish, the Ticos - as they are known - also have their own slang, words and expressions that are only heard in the mouths of the locals. Some peculiarities come from pre-Columbian America: some words actually come from certain languages of Amerindian tribes that have let a certain cultural heritage slip away. Several ethnic minorities are fighting for the preservation and teaching of their dialects which are less and less used. On the Atlantic coast, Afro-descendants use an English Creole inherited from their Jamaican ancestors. You will also find that Costa Ricans call each other "Ticos" for the simple reason that they constantly use this diminutive in every word, most often ending in "-ico". For example, chico (small) becomes chiquitico (even smaller). Thus, each word is associated with this diminutive: the little street, the little car, the little walk, the little dog, the little coffee... This linguistic reflex is a way to soften interactions, to attenuate the harshness of certain words, it goes down much better and makes everyday life much more pleasant!
Always in a pacifist and respectful state of mind, Costa Ricans are the reflection of a social and democratic policy. The decision to abolish its army in the aftermath of a civil war has allowed the country to invest in health, education and the preservation of the environment. Proud of its democratic values, Costa Rica has established its flag with the three colors of France: blue, white and red with five horizontal bands. "France erects its colors vertically, because it is at the center of civilization. Costa Rica will erect them horizontally, because it is a nation that is beginning to receive the first rays of its true independence and the civilization of the century." (Castro Madriz, President of the Republic, 1848).
A strong and intimate link with nature
In Costa Rica, nature is a daily ally. Accustomed to this profusion of nature, the Ticos are born with this capacity to marvel daily at the spectacle that the living world offers. Conscious of their environment and educated to the richness of their biodiversity, they are at one with this earth that moves and is part of their identity. An earthquake? A volcanic eruption? The Ticos are not necessarily alarmed: the love of the inhabitants for nature is also to accept its whims! By applying the adage "Pura vida", one can only be happy, and even more so if one is content with a simple life close to nature: this may be the secret of longevity in Costa Rica, one of the countries with the most centenarians. Here, as soon as a person is born, he or she forms a direct connection with nature. This guarantees a better quality of life on a daily basis: the inhabitants of Costa Rica enjoy the highest life expectancy in Central America and live on average up to 80 years! Qualified as a "blue zone" by scientists, the Nicoya Peninsula, in the northwest of the country, is a province where people live much longer than elsewhere: they are 10 times more likely to live to be 100 years old than in Europe! Home to many centenarians, it is indeed one of the five places in the world where people live the oldest on the planet. This can be explained by the quality of the local food (mainly vegetarian diet), the solidarity of the families and communities, the determination of each person's role within an activity... Families never separate, always reside in the same place and the elders work until the end of their life: each one has a mission!
Accustomed to growing their own food, some elders are true encyclopedias and have acquired over the years the experience to identify plants at first glance: those that are edible and/or medicinal, those that cleanse the kidneys, those that fight against malaria, cold or colds, those that are good anti-mosquitoes or that are treatment for circulation and treatment of veins. Here, turmeric grows in profusion!
The Ticos also have a more sporting relationship with nature. Almost a national sport, surfing is a religion for many of them! It is even common for Ticos to take a break from work and go for a surfing session to clear their heads. Simple novices or initiated, they are numerous to leave to the assault of the waves on the hundreds of kilometers of coasts which counts the country. The less sporty, however, meet on the beach to watch the sunset, a way to pay tribute to the beauty of their environment.
