Swedish Costa Ricans are citizens of Costa Rica who have

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

ancestry. According to the 2012 census by the INEC, approximately 1,100 citizens from Sweden live in Costa Rica, mainly professionals and retired people.Fuente: — Sección de Estadística. INEC.

History

The first

immigrants settled in Costa Rica in the mid-19th century when the President

José María Castro Madriz José María Castro Madriz (1 September 1818 – 4 April 1892) was a Costa Rican lawyer, academic, diplomat, and politician. He served twice as President of Costa Rica, from 1847 to 1849, and from 1866 to 1868. On both occasions he was prevente ...

made new reforms to attract European immigration to the country. During the first decades, the Swedish immigration was limited, because the government had more preference to the German, English, Italian and French immigration, the Swedish community in Costa Rica were mainly traders and Lutheran missionaries. The Swedish immigration in Costa Rica begins to gain importance in the late of the nineteenth century and the early of the twentieth century, when hundreds of Swedes came to the country by a policy, climate and attractive economy. Also, is created the first Swedish consulate in Costa Rica, and the Swedish club and the Swedish school in the country because in this moment, began to grow the number of Costa Rican children of Swedish descent.

Characteristics

Sweden is a main flow of migration of

retirees A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

and pensioners in Costa Rica, along with other European countries, United States, Canada and some countries of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. According to an estimate of the ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica), at least 20% of all immigrants in Costa Rica are retirees, in their majority Americans, Canadians, Italians, Dutch, Swedish, Chinese and Australians. The main activity performed by retirees who emigrated, is

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

, because Costa Rica has attractive places as Escazú, Sta. Ana, Cariari, Rohrmoser and San Pedro.

Swedish Costa Ricans

Swedish Costa Ricans, in relation to those of Costa Ricans of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent, are less numerous. The majority are concentrated in urban areas while some live in rural areas. Around 8.000 to 13.000 Costa Ricans have Swedish ancestry, some surnames are known in the country: Jonsson, Eriksson, Andersson, Hansson and Berg. Many Swedish immigrants were missionaries of the past, the majority of Swedish Costa Ricans are Protestants, although there are some

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

Swedish culture in Costa Rica

Celebration of the Saint Lucy's Day

The

Saint Lucy's Day Saint Lucy's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Lucy, is a Christian feast day observed on 13 December. The observance commemorates Lucia of Syracuse, an early-fourth-century virgin martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to ...

is not an official celebration in Costa Rica, but it is celebrated in some Lutheran churches in Costa Rica founded by some Swedish missionaries, with other missionaries from Denmark, Norway, Finland and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Swedish language

Some schools in the country teach the Swedish language. Due to the arrival of Swedish entrepreneurs, the Swedish language has become more important in the country, but not required to learn it.

Relations between Sweden and Costa Rica

* The Swedish Embassy in Costa Rica Some Swedish companies or companies with franchises in Costa Rica are: Ericsson, ABB, NCC, SCA, Accenture, Volvo Construction, Volvo personbilar, Volvo lastvagnar, Scania Elektrolux, Elof Hansson, Atlas Copco, Sandvik, Oriflame and De Laval.Landöversikt Costa Rica juni 2015
''The Swedish Embassy in Costa Rica'' There are also Swedish cooperation in Costa Rica.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swedish Immigration To Costa Rica Ethnic groups in Costa Rica