Our People

The Ticos, as Costa Ricans are commonly known, are a mixing of races. Though most of the country’s 4 million inhabitants descend from Spanish immigrants, many families originated in other parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and, indeed, Central America.

You may be surprised by the number of fair-skinned people you’ll see in the country, especially in the Central Valley.

In the lowlands, more people are mestizos -that is mixture of European and Indigenous blood- whereas most along the Caribbean coast belong to an African lineage, and much of the Talamanca Mountain Range is inhabited by full-blooded Indians of various tribes.