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Demographics
Demographics
Costa Rica has a population of 4,133,884.
The combined white and Mestizo groups constitute 94% of the population, while 3% are Black/Afro-Caribbean , 1% Amerindian 1%, Chinese and 1% are of other ethnic groups The exact breakdown, however, is not known because the Costa Rican census combines whites and Mestizos in one category.
The white population is primarily of Spaniard ancestry with significant numbers of Costa Ricans of Italian, German, Jewish and Polish descent.
Just under 3% of the population is of black African descent.
The majority of the Afro-Costa Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers, as well as slaves who were brought during the Atlantic slave trade.
The indigenous or Amerindian population numbers around 1%, or over 41,000 individuals.
A significant portion of the population descends from a bi-racial mix of local Amerindians and Spaniards, most live in secluded Indian reservations in the Cordillera de Talamanca or Guanacaste.
There is also an expatriate community of people of all ages from the United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Britain, and other countries.
Costa Rica hosts many refugees, mainly from Colombia and Nicaragua.
As a result, an estimated 10% of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans, most of whom migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country.
Moreover, Costa Rica took in many refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s - notably from Chile and Argentina, as well as those from El Salvador who fled from guerrillas and government death squads.
Religions
Christianity is the predominant religion in Costa Rica, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion as guaranteed by the Constitution of 1949.
Some 92% of Costa Ricans are Christian and like many other parts of Latin America, Protestant denominations have been experiencing rapid growth.
However, three in four Costa Ricans still adhere to Roman Catholicism.
Due to the recent small but continuous immigration of communities from Asia, the Middle East, and other places, other religions have grown, the most popular being Buddhism (because of an increasing Chinese community of 40,000), and smaller numbers of Jewish, Muslim, Bahá’í and Hindu adherents.
There is a Jewish synagogue, the B'nei Israel Congregation, in San José, near the La Sabana Metropolitan Park.
Several homes in the neighborhood east of La Sabana Metropolitan Park are festooned with the Star of David and other recognizable Jewish symbols.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has seen modest growth in Costa Rica in the last 40 years and has built one of only two temples in Central America in the San Antonio de Belen region of Heredia.
Languages
The only official language is Spanish.
There are two main accents native to Costa Rica, the standard Costa Rican and the Nicoyan.
The Nicoyan accent is very similar to the standard Nicaraguan accent due, in part, to its vicinity.
A notable Costa Rican pronunciation difference includes a soft initial and double [r] phoneme that is not trilled as is normal in the Spanish speaking world.
A peculiarity of the Spanish in Costa Rica is the relative lack of the use of the pronoun tú, which is considered rather informal by native Costa Ricans.
Instead, Costa Ricans use vos or usted.
Jamaican immigrants in the 19th Century brought with them a dialect of English that has evolved into the Mekatelyu creole dialect.
Marriage
Because Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, only that church's marriages are legally recognized by the government.
People wishing to wed outside of the Catholic church must hire a lawyer who will perform and then register their civil wedding for them.
Legal age for marriage in Costa Rica is 18.
The age of consent is 15.
Source: CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
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