Costa Ricans

Costa RicansCosta Ricans prefer to be known as Ticos. Ticos are very family oriented and Sundays are devoted to spending time with the family. One could say that Costa Rica is a matriarchal society as Mother’s Day is a national, paid holiday and falls on the same day of the year. While Costa Rica does celebrate Father’s Day, it is not a paid holiday! The elderly are also held in high esteem and are treated better in Costa Rica than in many other countries.

Costa Rica

Inhabitants of Costa RicaIn Costa Rica, most of the people in the country live in urban areas. Before the Spanish came to Costa Rica, the American Indians were the original inhabitants of Costa Rica. The spanish colonists came to Costa Rica and married the Indians,which made the Spanish also inhabitants of Costa Rica.

The largest city population is San Carlos with an estimation of 964,000

Dance Forms in Costa Rica

•Merengue•Salsa•Cumbia•Folkloric Dancing

Merengue dance in Costa Rica

Folkloric dance – Costa Rica

Family life in Costa RicaIn family life, children will live at home with their parents until they are married. Sometimes children live at home until they are in the 20’s or 30’s, and then once they have married they move in with their spouse. It is also quite normal in Costa Rica for extended family members to live together. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins may share one house, or live in very close proximity to each other so as to see each other frequently. Family is very important to Costa Ricans and usually a Costa Rican’s social life is closely intertwined with his or her family life.

Religions in Costa RicaThe State religion of Costa Rica is Roman Catholicism, and Christian values are present in many aspects of daily life. Town names often begin with San or Santa; familiar expressions include "If God wishes it" and "God bless," and every city has a Catholic church.Although the Costa Rican Constitution establishes Catholicism as the state religion, it also assures religious freedom for all. According to recent data, 76.3% of Costa Ricans identify as Catholic. An additional 13.7% are Evangelical Christians, 1.3% are Jehovah's Witness, and 0.7% are Protestant Christian. The remaining 8% either have no religion (3.2%) or are of other faiths (4.8%), including Mormonism, Judaism and Islam.

Churches in Costa Rica

Education System in Costa RicaIn 1869, Costa Rica made education both free and mandatory for all its citizens. Since that time, the country's education system has grown to include more than four thousand schools. Over the last three decades the country has invested nearly 30% of its national budget in primary and secondary education. The literacy rate is 95%. There are public elementary and high schools in every community. Public elementary schools consist of six years of education followed by five to six years of high school. The first three years of high school are dedicated to general education while the remaining two or three provide students with specialized training. Upon graduation, students receive a title in arts or sciences and a Costa Rican Bachillerato Diploma, which is accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Education.

University in Costa Rica

Dress Costa Ricans take pride in their appearance and dress well. In business situations, both men and women dress formally but not as conservatively as in North America. Outside the office, men and women dress informally, although casual dress in Costa Rica is fancier than you might expect. For example, men rarely wear shorts except at the beach, and women's jeans are often accompanied by stiletto heels and heavy makeup

Dress Costa Ricans

Costa Rica’s traditional dishes consist of rice and beans with other ingredients like chicken or fish and different sorts of vegetables, The most common dish for breakfast is Gallo Pinto which consists of rice mixed with black beans, served with natilla (sour cream), eggs (scrambled) and fried plantain. Costa Ricans usually drink a cup of coffee or fresh fruit juice with it. For lunch, Casados (beans, rice) are served with some sort of meat or fish and a salad, fried plantains, white cheese and corn tortilla. The difference between Gallo Pinto and Casado is that in Casados, rice and the bean are served side by side and not mixed.

Traditional Food of Costa Rica

Carnival in Costa RicaIn mid-October the Costa Rican population celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus, who arrived in 1502 to Uvita, an island about 1 km from the port of Limon. For nearly a week the city of Limon fills with people, color and music. In the streets you can find concerts, beauty contests, parades and huge pots of hot “Rondon” (fishstew/fishmulligan). This celebration’s highlight is the “Gran Desfile” where different colorfully costumed dancing groups along with acrobats are featured in the streets, and are evaluated by a jury. There are many drinks and dances; the whole city moves to reggae, roots, calypso, salsa and socca rhythms.

Gran Desfile

Pura vidaPura vida, a characteristic Costa Rican phrase, literally means pure life, with connotations that suggest translations such as "full of life", "this is living!", "going great", or "real living.  The phrase can be used both as a greeting or a farewell, as an answer expressing that things are going well, as a way of giving thanks, or showing appreciation

Fishing in Costa Rica is a very fun and profitable hobby

Language – Costa Rica

The official language of Costa Rica is Spanish. However, there are also many local indigenous languages, such as Bribri. English is the first foreign language and the second most taught language in Costa Rica, followed by French, German, Italian and Chinese

National Game of Costa Rica

The national game of Costa Rica is soccer. Sports in Costa Rica form an integral part of the Costa Rican social life. Some of the sports that can be practiced are tennis, running, sport fishing, trekking, boxing, motocross, swimming, baseball, basketball, diving, snorkeling, and of course surfing.