Afro-Costa Ricans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 384,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Afro-Caribbean, particularly Jamaicans; other Black Latin Americans |
Afro-Costa Ricans are Costa Ricans of African ancestry.
Costa Rica has four small minority groups: Mulattoes, Blacks, Amerindians and Asians. About 8% of the population is of Black African descent or Mulatto (mix of European and black) who are called Afro-Costa Ricans. Most of them are English-speaking descendants of 19th-century black Jamaican immigrant workers.
The first black people who arrived in Costa Rica came with the Spanish conquistadors. Slave trade was common in all the countries conquered by Spain, and in Costa Rica the first blacks seem to have come from specific sources in Africa- Equatorial and Western regions. The people from these areas were thought of as ideal slaves because they had a reputation for being more robust, affable and hard-working than other Africans. The slaves were from what is now the Gambia (Mandingas), Guinea (specifically Wolofe), Ghanaian (Ashanti), Benin (specifically Ije / Ararás) and Sudan (Puras). Many of the slaves were also Minas (i.e. slaves from parts of the region extending from Ivory Coast to the Slave Coast), Popo (be imported tribes as Ana and Baribas), Yorubas and Congas (perhaps from Kongasso, Ivory Coast). Slaves also came from other places, such as neighboring Panama.
However, the following century witnessed a gradual lessening of the differences between blacks and their white owners. As whites took black women as their concubines, they freed the children that were born from this union. The same thing started to happen with the "zambos", born of Amerindians and blacks. During the time of slavery, the slaves worked on cattle ranches of Guanacaste and the Central Valley plantations and cacao plantations in Matina, whose situation was more difficult. Over time, many whites freed their slaves and slavery was abolished in 1823, along with the other Central American countries.
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