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Culture

Costa Rican culture is influenced by Spanish and indigenous culture, the latter being less evident in most of the country, with the exception of Limon, predominantly Black Jamaicans, and the Cordillera de Talamanca.

In the 19th century, the Caribbean region of Costa Rica received a considerable number of immigrants that came first as workers during the construction of the railroads to the eastern coast and later settled in the area. Most of them were blacks that came from the English-speaking caribbean, who gave a distinctive cultural and ethnic identity to the region. There was also an important number of Chinese immigrants, who came first to the port-towns of Limon and Puntarenas and later spread in small numbers to most cities in the country. Small numbers of immigrants from other areas, mainly Europe (Spain, Italy, Germany) and Lebanon, arrived during the early 20th century causing a small but significant impact, mainly on the country’s political and economic elite. All of these influences have developed the extremely varied ethnicity of the country.

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