Costa Rican people? how come?

Question

please forgive me before I ask, I was just to shy to ask.... So, I had the pleasure to travel for work to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Colombia...... 3 months in each country... i was wondering how come most Costaricans are white? and their neighbor countries are not? I know I sound too ignorant to ask this question but I was wondering the whole time I was there and I found it too rude to ask such a question. also how come they have really nice houses and malls like in the U.S.... i know you guys are gonna hate me for asking such a stupid question...

Answer 1

My husband is Costa Rican and a lot of people in his family are white and several even have blue eyes. I have talked to him about it some and he says that the indians did not marry in with the Spanish like they did in different countries. Also a lot of the "dark" people you see in Costa Rica are actually Nicaraguans who cross into Costa Rica to find better jobs and living conditions. As far as having nice malls and houses it is partly due to the economy. Compared to nearly all Latin American countries Costa Rica is well off. They also have a stable government and manufacture many of their own goods. P.S. I know some towns have a lot of other European influence. My brother-in-law is Costa Rican but his family is of German decent.

Answer 2

i liked your question and the answers[most of them]      take a star--2 of you ans prople--thumbs up!!!!

Answer 3

Let's look back to the 1500's

When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in Costa Rica,yes of course there were Indians, but unlike it's neighboring countries the natives were rebels and refused to accept the whites as their "masters" so instead of staying and working for the Europeans,the indigenous people escaped north or south(out of Costa Rica) the few that remained either died off of diseases(brought by the Europeans) or mistreatment by the Europeans.So the indigenous population decreased dramatically by more than 95% when the whites arrived.

This is why during that time,Costa Rica was the poorest country in Central America,due to the lack of indigenous people to work the land. Many Europeans found themselves plowing and working their own lands.Soon After they discovered growing coffee and bananas was great business,the government started giving away land for free to people who were willing to grow coffee.Of course this was a great deal for Europeans who wanted to own land. So even more immigrated to Costa Rica.

Since there were very few indigenous people, less mixing of the European and indigenous people occurred,therefore a vast majority of Costa Ricans are predominantly of European descent.Mostly Spanish, Portuguese,Italian and French. There is also a large number of Costa Ricans of German,Jewish,Polish and Greek descent.

There are also black Costa Ricans who are descendents of Jamaican immigrants who were brought as workers(not slaves) to build railroads.

Also immigration of non whites is a problem(mainly from Nicaragua, Peru,Colombia,Guatemala,El Salvador and even Mexico)

If you look closely(don't mean to offend or be racist) but they clearly stand out and don't blend in because of their skin color and facial features.There is a problem with tourists thinking these people are Costa Rican, and it upsets Costa Ricans because they are very proud of their dominant European descent.This is perceived by other Latin American countries ( Especially Central America) as Costa Ricans being racist and arrogant, hence why they nickname Costa Rica " The Argentina of Central America'.

Hope I helped :)

Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.

Answer 4

IM Costa Rican and id say the majority of Costa Ricans are brunette. Dark brown hair and dark brown eyes but with a Spaniard face. There are a lot of blond Costa Ricans but not more than brunette. Most Costa Ricans have different family members that are either Indian looking, blond or brunette, moreno, it is a mix. The real thing is that the Costa Rican indians are real good looking compared to other indian tribes in other countries. But the truth is that Costa Ricans are really mixed with Spanish, Indians and Jamaicans and some even asian. Some are more mixed than others, some less. I have family members that are Blond (green and blue eyes), Brunnette, Black, Indian, Moreno and even Oriento. Costa Ricans are just too horny to care about race. LOL:  

Answer 5

To the 1st poster:

Mexicans are not white; the minority are European, but so many are more Indian than they'll admit, while the rest are a mixture... but don't p**s me off by calling Mexicans white(generally).

Answer 6

If you think Mexicans aren't white, you need your head checked.  Where are you hanging out in Mexico?

Costa Rica is a tiny tourist money driven country, so of course it looks like the United States, that's all that lives there.

Answer 7

I just came from spending 2 months in Costa Rica... First of all, Costa Ricans, you have a BEAUTIFUL country and people, people of all skin colors, todas personas en su pais son hermosas!

And to answer the question... I know the stats say that they are like 95% white, but come on... If you actually went there, you know that only like 50% are actually not mixed with indigenous blood. If you think most of Costa Ricans are actually white, they sure are a different kind of white than people in, say, Sweden...

That's my opinion, of course, and I love all Costa Rican people and I think your country has diversity, which you should be proud of. I was in Puerto Jiminez and went to a restaurant with a beautiful Chinese girl, too.

Also, someone I got to know in Costa Rica said that they always considered themselves white, until they entered the U.S. and had to identify as either "Caucasian" or "Hispanic." My friend put "Caucasian" and got the suggestion (although was not forced to or anything) to "correct" to "Hispanic," instead. Hmm.