I am sure that at least once in your lifetime you asked yourself if is Costa Rica in Latin America and which other countries are grouped under this region.

This article will answer your question if is Costa Rica Latin America and will tell you interesting facts about this part of the world.

So, let’s start with the beginning and see where is Costa Rica located and which are its neighbours, just to give you a clue about its location on the world map.

Costa Rica is a small but very beautiful Central American country that is bordering Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south, while the Pacific Ocean is in the east and the Caribbean Sea in the western part of it.

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is Costa Rica part of Latin America

The capital city and the largest city in the country is San José with a total population of 311. 000 inhabitants and located in the central part of the county.

The second-largest city of the country is Limon, which is also the primary port of the country with a total population of 55.000 people.

Is Costa Rica in Latin America

Latin America is the name of the entire area located in South America plus Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean archipelago that are inhabited by Romance language speakers.

Is Costa Rica Latin America

As Costa Rica is located in Central America, the country is considered to be a Latin America country together with the countries located in the area described above.

The common element of the countries in Latin America is that all of them had been conquered by Spain and Portugal.

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Between the 15th and the 18th century, all these countries had been under Spanish and Portuguese occupation and all of them gained their independence at the beginning of the 19th century.

The so-called Latin American countries can be grouped into 3 regions as follows:

• Central and North America: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras and Panama
• South America: Venezuela, Suriname, Paraguay, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay
• The Caribbean countries of Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba as well as Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Saint Barthélemy

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Now it is clear if is Costa Rica in Latin America let’s discover more things about these beautiful countries from the American continent.

Language

The main languages in these parts of the world are Spanish that is spoken in the mainland and in Puerto Rico, Dominic Republic and Cuba and Portuguese that is spoken in Brazil.

Other official languages spoken in Latin America include English in Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Panam and part of Argentina, while French is spoken in Haiti, French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Religion

You know if is Costa Rica Latin America, which are the languages spoken so it’s time to discover their religion and their ethnic groups.

About 90% of the Latin American people are Christians, especially Roman Catholics and if you ask the locals about their religions and beliefs about 75% of them will tell you they are Catholics.

There are also small communities of Jews and Muslims, especially in Argentina, and some protestants in Brazil, Puerto Rico and Guatemala.

In the countries where there is a large community of Afro Latin American people, you will find other religions like Santeria, Macumba, Vodou and Candomble.

Ethnic groups

The answer if is Costa Rica in Latin America is yes and it’s time to move forward and find some interesting things about the ethnic groups that live here.

There are Asians, Amerindians, whites, mulattoes and many other groups of people that live in this part of the world.

Is Costa Rica Latin America

Let me tell you a few words about each of them just to have an idea about the cultural and ethnic diversity of these countries.

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Asians

Asians came to Latin America many centuries ago, during the colonial period when the Spanish conquistadors had commercial relations with Asia and the Americas.

Most of the Asians from here have Chinese and Japanese origins and live mostly in Brazil, Peru and a small group in Panama.

Actually, the largest group of Japanese people that lives outside Japan borders can be found in Brazil where you can find more than 2 million Japanese.

Peru on the other hand has the largest Chinese community in the whole world with almost 1.5 million Chinese.

Black people

The harsh reality is that during the 16th century, millions of black people had been brought to this part of the world as slaves especially in the territories where today are Brazil and the Caribbean countries.

So don’t be surprised to find out that today in Brazil live almost 10 million black people, while Haiti has more than 6.9 million.

Amerindians

The indigenous people of the Latin America countries are called Amerindians and were the first people who occupied these territories.

Is Costa Rica in Latin America

When the countries had been conquered by Spanish and Portuguese, the native population recorded a very important decline because of the disease brought by Europeans and the crimes committed by the conquistadors against locals.

Over time, in some countries, the indigenous population managed to recover after that black period and today they are the majority in countries like Bolivia and Peru.

In countries like Guatemala and Mexico, they are not the majority of the population, but they are the largest minority.

Whites

It’s clear if is Costa Rica Latin America but let’s find out more about the white people that live in this part of the world.

White people appeared in Latin America at the beginning of the 15th century, by the time when the territories had been conquered by Europeans.

In our days, whites can be found all over the place and form the majority in countries like Argentina, Uruguay and Costa Rica.

Mestizos

This is the name used for the mixture between the Europeans and Amerindians and forms the majority of the population in almost all the countries from the region.

Mulattoes

The mixture between the European and African people gave birth to mulattoes that form the majority of the population in Caribbean countries such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Zambos

Zambos is a mixture of Africans and Amerindians and are the majority group in Brazil and Colombia.

Conclusion

Yes, is Costa Rica in Latin America together with the other countries named earlier in this article.

Latin America is one of the most beautiful parts of the world with a very diverse culture and traditions and home to one of the most welcoming people in the world.

You will fall in love with local culture, traditions and sceneries from these countries and Costa Rica is famous for being one of the most beautiful countries in the area.

I strongly advise you to plan your next holiday in these parts of the world as you will be charmed by the beauty of the region.