Editing Costa Rica (section)

== Demographics ==
{{Main|Costa Ricans|Demographics of Costa Rica}}
{{Costa Rican censuses}}
The [[2022 Costa Rica census|2022 census]] counted a total population of 5,044,197 people.<ref name="inec_cr" /> In 2022, the census also recorded ethnic or racial identity for all groups separately for the first time in more than ninety-five years since the 1927 census. Options included Indigenous, Black or Afro-descendant, Mulatto, Chinese, [[Mestizo]], white and other on section IV: question 7.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://admin.inec.cr/sites/default/files/media/_por_que_se_hacen_estas_preguntas_1.pdf|title=INEC Cuestionario Censo 2022|website=INEC|date=2022|accessdate=6 April 2023|archive-date=6 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406043328/https://admin.inec.cr/sites/default/files/media/_por_que_se_hacen_estas_preguntas_1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2011 data for the following groups were: 83.6% whites or [[mestizo]]s, 6.7% [[mulatto]]es, 2.4% [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]], 1.1% black or [[Afro-Costa Rican|Afro-Caribbean]]; the census showed 1.1% as Other, 2.9% (141,304 people) as None, and 2.2% (107,196 people) as unspecified.<ref name="livepopulation.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.livepopulation.com/country/costa-rica.html|title=Live Costa Rica Population Clock 2017 – Population of Costa Rica Today|website=www.livepopulation.com|access-date=6 August 2017|archive-date=4 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104210502/https://www.livepopulation.com/country/costa-rica.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:CostaRicaPOP2024.png|thumb|Population pyramid of Costa Rica for 2024]]
In 2011, there were 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 people|Chorotega]] (Guanacaste), [[Maleku people|Maleku]] (northern Alajuela), [[Bribri people|Bribri]] (southern Atlantic), [[Cabécar people|Cabécar]] (Cordillera de Talamanca), [[Ngäbe]] (southern Costa Rica, along the Panamá border), [[Boruca people|Boruca]] (southern Costa Rica) and {{Ill|Térraba people|es|Térraba|lt=Térraba}} (southern Costa Rica).

The population includes [[European Costa Ricans]] (of European ancestry), primarily of [[Spanish people|Spanish]] descent,<ref name=CIA/> with significant numbers of Italian, German, English, Dutch, French, Irish, Portuguese, 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 [[Jamaicans|Jamaican]] immigrant workers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schulman |first=Bob |title='Little Jamaica' Rocks on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/little-jamaica-rocks-on-t_b_8100114 |work=Huffington Post |access-date=22 January 2019 |archive-date=25 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125020543/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/little-jamaica-rocks-on-t_b_8100114 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Koch |first=Charles W. |title=Jamaican Blacks and Their Descendants in Costa Rica |journal=Social and Economic Studies |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=339–361 |location=Jamaica |publisher=Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies |jstor=27861669 |year=1977}}</ref>

The 2011 census classified 83.6% of the population as white or [[Mestizo]]; the latter are persons of combined European and Amerindian descent. The [[Mulatto]] segment (mix of white and black) represented 6.7% and Indigenous people made up 2.4% of the population.<ref name=CIA/> Native and European mixed-blood populations are far less than in other Latin American countries. Exceptions are [[Guanacaste Province|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.<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2019.htm www.state.gov "Background Note: Costa Rica – People"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121153104/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2019.htm |date=21 January 2017 }}, United States Department of State.</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-23-fg-costa23-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Costa Rica Seeks to Shut Its Doors to Illegal Migrants From Nicaragua | first1=Marla | last1=Dickerson | first2=Rebecca | last2=Kimitch | date=23 March 2006 | access-date=2 May 2010 | archive-date=6 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206141240/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/23/world/fg-costa23 | url-status=live }}</ref> 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 squad]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Biesanz, Karen Zubris |title=The Ticos: Culture and Social Change in Costa Rica |author2=Biesanz, Mavis Hiltunen |author3=Biesanz, Richard |publisher=[[Lynne Rienner Publishers]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-55587-737-8 |location=Boulder, CO |page=118 |author-link2=Mavis Biesanz}}</ref>

[[File:Niños costarricenses.JPG|thumb|Costa Rican school children|200x200px]]According to the [[World Bank]], in 2010 about 489,200 immigrants lived in the country, many 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1199807908806/CostaRica.pdf|title=Costa Rica country profile (from the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011)|publisher=World Bank|access-date=17 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103144309/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1199807908806/CostaRica.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The number of migrants declined in later years but in 2015, there were some 420,000 immigrants in Costa Rica<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/interactives/migration-tables/|title=International Migrants by Country|date=10 November 2016|access-date=7 August 2017|archive-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807194636/http://www.pewglobal.org/interactives/migration-tables/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the number of asylum seekers (mostly from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua) rose to more than 110,000, a fivefold increase from 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/26/central-american-refugees-costa-rica-obama-administration|title=US partners with Costa Rica to protect Central American refugees|first=Amanda|last=Holpuch|newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 July 2016|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=7 August 2017|archive-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807232235/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/26/central-american-refugees-costa-rica-obama-administration|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, the country was called a "magnet" for migrants from South and Central America and other countries who were hoping to reach the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/09/01/492066728/costa-rica-becomes-a-magnet-for-migrants|title=Costa Rica Becomes A Magnet For Migrants|website=NPR.org|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=3 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503023802/https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/09/01/492066728/costa-rica-becomes-a-magnet-for-migrants|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://havanatimes.org/interviews/nicaragua-trump-deportations-and-the-affect-on-family-remittances/|title=Nicaragua, Trump, Deportations and the {{sic|Affect|expected=Effect|nolink=y}} on Family Remittances|first=Circles|last=Robinson|date=5 December 2016|access-date=22 November 2020|archive-date=30 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130130203/https://havanatimes.org/interviews/nicaragua-trump-deportations-and-the-affect-on-family-remittances/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Largest cantons ===
{{Further|Cantons of Costa Rica}}
{{Largest cities
| country      = Costa Rica
| kind         = cantons
| stat_ref     = Estimations from 2022<ref name="2022popest">{{Cite web |author=Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos |author-link=National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica |date=2023 |title=Resultados Estimacion de Poblacion y Vivienda 2022 |trans-title=2022 Population and Housing Estimate Results |url=https://admin.inec.cr/sites/default/files/2023-11/reResultadosEstimacionPoblacionVivienda2022_3.xlsx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604233425/https://admin.inec.cr/sites/default/files/2023-11/reResultadosEstimacionPoblacionVivienda2022_3.xlsx |archive-date=2024-06-04 |access-date=2024-04-21 |language=es |format=XLSX}}</ref>
| list_by_pop  = Cantons of Costa Rica
| div_name     = Province

|city_1 = San José, Costa Rica{{!}}San José
|div_1  = San José Province{{!}}San José
|pop_1  = 352 381
|img_1  = 4- Vue San Jose.jpg

|city_2 = Alajuela (canton){{!}}Alajuela
|div_2  = Alajuela Province{{!}}Alajuela
|pop_2  = 322 143
|img_2  = Alajuela_likeluis.jpg

|city_3 = Desamparados, Costa Rica{{!}}Desamparados
|div_3  = San José Province{{!}}San José
|pop_3  = 223 226
|img_3  = IglesiaDesamparados.JPG

|city_4 = San Carlos (canton){{!}}San Carlos
|div_4  = Alajuela Province{{!}}Alajuela
|pop_4  = 198 742
|img_4  = Cathedral_of_St._Charles_Borromeo_in_Ciudad_Quesada.jpg

|city_5 = Cartago (canton){{!}}Cartago
|div_5  = Cartago Province{{!}}Cartago
|pop_5  = 165 417

|city_6 = Pérez Zeledón (canton){{!}}Pérez Zeledón
|div_6  = San José Province{{!}}San José
|pop_6  = 156 917

|city_7 = Pococí {{!}}Pococí
|div_7  = Limón Province{{!}}Limón
|pop_7  = 146 320

|city_8 = Puntarenas (canton){{!}}Puntarenas
|div_8  = Puntarenas Province{{!}}Puntarenas
|pop_8  = 141 697

|city_9 = Goicoechea (canton){{!}}Goicoechea
|div_9  = San José Province{{!}}San José
|pop_9  = 132 104

|city_10 = Heredia (canton){{!}}Heredia
|div_10  = Heredia Province{{!}}Heredia
|pop_10  = 131 901
}}

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Costa Rica}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Religion in Costa Rica (CIEP 2018)<ref name=ciep/>
|label1 = [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]
|value1 = 52
|color1 = DarkOrchid
|label2 = [[Protestantism]]
|value2 = 25
|color2 = DodgerBlue
|label3 = [[Irreligion|No religion]]
|value3 = 17
|color3 = LightGray
|label4 = Other religions
|value4 = 3
|color4 = Gold
|label5 = No answer
|value5 = 3
|color5 = Black
}}

[[File:Basilica de los Angeles 2007.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles ([[Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, Cartago]]), during the 2007 pilgrimage]]
Most Costa Ricans identify with a Christian religion, with [[Catholicism]] being the one with the largest number of members and also the official [[state religion]] according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time guarantees [[freedom of religion]]. Costa Rica is the only modern state in the [[Americas]] which currently has Catholicism as its state religion; other countries with state religions (Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Orthodox) are in Europe: [[Liechtenstein]], [[Monaco]], the [[Vatican City]], [[Malta]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Denmark]], [[Iceland]], and [[Greece]].<ref>Travis Mitchell, "Many Countries Favor Specific Religions, Officially and Unofficially", Pew Research Center, Oct 3, 2017.</ref>

The Latinobarómetro survey of 2017 found that 57% of the population identify themselves as [[Roman Catholics]], 25% are [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] [[Protestants]], 15% report that they [[Nonreligious|do not have a religion]], and 2% declare that they belong to another religion.<ref name="latbar">{{cite web|title=Latinobarómetro 1995 – 2017: El Papa Francisco y la Religión en Chile y América Latina|url=http://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/site/artic/20180112/asocfile/20180112124342/f00006494_religion_chile_america_latina_2017.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/site/artic/20180112/asocfile/20180112124342/f00006494_religion_chile_america_latina_2017.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=30 August 2018|language=es|date=January 2018}}</ref> This survey indicated a decline in the share of Catholics and rise in the share of Protestants and irreligious.<ref name="latbar"/> A University of Costa Rica survey of 2018 showed similar rates; 52% Catholics, 22% Protestants, 17% irreligious, and 3% other.<ref name=ciep /> The rate of secularism is high by Latin American standards.

Due to small, but continuous, immigration from Asia and the Middle East, other religions have grown. The most popular is [[Buddhism]], with about 100,000 practitioners (over 2% of the population).<ref name="buddhistchannel.tv">{{cite web|url=http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=71,11009,0,0,1,0|title=World – Buddhism in Costa Rica|website=www.buddhistchannel.tv|access-date=16 June 2013|archive-date=16 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616032140/http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=71,11009,0,0,1,0|url-status=live}}</ref> Most Buddhists are members of the [[Han Chinese]] community of about 40,000 with some new local converts. There is also a small [[Islam in Costa Rica|Muslim]] community of about 500 families or 0.001% of the population.<ref>{{cite news|title=Navidad se vive diferente en hogares ticos no cristianos|first=Adriana|last=Quirós|language=es|newspaper=La Nación|date=24 December 2010|url=http://www.nacion.com/2010-12-25/AldeaGlobal/FotoVideoDestacado/AldeaGlobal2626179.aspx|trans-title=Christmas is lived differently in non-Christian Costa Rican homes|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228232240/http://www.nacion.com/2010-12-25/AldeaGlobal/FotoVideoDestacado/AldeaGlobal2626179.aspx|archive-date=28 December 2010}}</ref>

The Sinagoga Shaarei Zion synagogue<ref>[http://www.centroisraelita.com/ Centro Israelita de Costa Rica, Comunidad Judía de Costa Rica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226183123/http://www.centroisraelita.com/ |date=26 February 2010 }}, Costa Rican Jewish Community</ref> is near [[La Sabana Metropolitan Park]] in [[San José, Costa Rica|San José]]. Several homes in the neighborhood east of the park display the [[Star of David]] and other Jewish symbols.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/costarica.htm |title=Jewish Community in Costa Rica |publisher=Jcpa.org |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727140623/http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/costarica.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] claims more than 35,000 members, and has a [[San José Costa Rica Temple|temple in San José]] that served as a regional worship center for Costa Rica.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/costa-rica |title=Costa Rica |access-date=13 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825062417/http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/costa-rica |archive-date=25 August 2010}}. LDS Newsroom. Retrieved on 13 December 2008</ref> However, they represent less than 1% of the population.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/san-jose-costa-rica-temple/ |title=San José Costa Rica LDS (Mormon) Temple |publisher=Ldschurchtemples.com |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323181446/https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/san-jose-costa-rica-temple/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lds.org/temples/geographical/0,11380,1899-1---19,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020308040039/http://www.lds.org/temples/geographical/0,11380,1899-1---19,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 March 2002 |title=List of LDS (Mormon) temples in Central America and the Caribbean |publisher=Lds.org |access-date=26 June 2010}}</ref>

=== Languages ===
{{main|Languages of Costa Rica}}
The primary language spoken in Costa Rica is Spanish, which features characteristics [[Costa Rican Spanish|distinct to the country]], a form of Central American Spanish. Costa Rica is a linguistically diverse country and home to at least five living local indigenous languages spoken by the descendants of pre-Columbian peoples: Maléku, Cabécar, Bribri, Guaymí, and Buglere.

Of native languages still spoken, primarily in indigenous reservations, the most numerically important are the [[Bribri language|Bribri]], [[Maléku language|Maléku]], [[Cabécar language|Cabécar]] and [[Ngäbere language]]s; some of these have several thousand speakers in Costa Rica while others have a few hundred. Some languages, such as [[Teribe language|Teribe]] and [[Boruca language|Boruca]], have fewer than a thousand speakers. The [[Buglere]] language and the closely related [[Guaymí language|Guaymí]] are spoken by some in southeast Puntarenas.<ref name="worldatlas.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-costa-rica.html|title=What Languages Are Spoken In Costa Rica?|website=WorldAtlas|date=17 July 2019|access-date=22 November 2020|archive-date=8 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608113503/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-costa-rica.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A [[English-based creole language|Creole-English]] language, [[Jamaican Patois|Jamaican ''patois'']] (also known as [[Limonese Creole|Mekatelyu]]), is an English-based Creole language spoken by the Afro-Carib immigrants who have settled primarily in Limón Province along the Caribbean coast.<ref name="worldatlas.com"/>

About 10.7% of Costa Rica's adult population (18 or older) also speaks English, 0.7% French, and 0.3% speaks [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] or German as a second language.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/marzo/11/pais1457622.html|title=Solo 1 de cada 10 adultos habla un segundo idioma|publisher=[[La Nación (Costa Rica)]]|author=Jairo Villegas|date=13 March 2008|access-date=22 July 2010|archive-date=17 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717122852/http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/marzo/11/pais1457622.html|url-status=live}}</ref>