Chinese people in Costa Rica

Chinese people in Costa Rica

Franklin Chang-Diaz, Harry Shum, Jr.
Total population
7,873
Regions with significant populations
San José, Limón, Nicoya, Puntarenas[1]
Languages
Spanish, Chinese
Related ethnic groups
Chinese people, Asian Latinos

Chinese people in Costa Rica form a small part of the Chinese diaspora in Latin America.

History

The first Chinese migrants arrived in Costa Rica in 1855; they were a group of 77 originally from Guangzhou, who had come to Central America to work on the Panama Railway. Of them, 32 found work on the farm of José María Cañas, while the remaining 45 were hired by Alejandro Von Bulow, an agent sent by the Berlin Colonization Society to prepare suitable sites for German settlement in Costa Rica. During the 1859-1863 administration of José María Montealegre Fernández, laws were promulgated which prohibited the migration of blacks and Asians, in an effort to reserve Costa Rica for European settlers.^[2]

Early Chinese migrants typically arrived by sea through the Pacific coast port of Puntarenas; a "Chinese colony" began to form in the area, founded by José Chen Apuy, a migrant from Zhongshan, Guangdong who arrived in 1873.^[3] Puntarenas was so widely known among the Chinese community as a destination that some in China mistook it for the name of the whole country.^[4]

In the 1970s, Taiwan began to become a major source of Chinese immigration to Costa Rica. However, they formed a transitory group, with many using Costa Rica as a stopover while they waited for permission to settle in the United States or Canada.^[5] Those who settled permanently in Costa Rica included many pensioners enjoying their retirement abroad.^[3]

Distribution

There is a sizeable Chinese community in the Puntarenas area and San José, around the "Paseo de los estudiantes" area.^{[citation needed]}

Crime

Chinese mafia are believed to have begun operating in Costa Rica in 1991; they are typically involved in collection of gambling debts. Crimes attributed to them include two kidnappings for ransom in October 1998 and two more in May 2002.^[6]

Notable people

• Franklin Chang-Diaz, astronaut
• Eduardo Li, president of the Costa Rican football federation
• Cheng Siu Chung, retired football player now coach in Hong Kong
• Harry Shum, Jr., Actor

References

Notes

1. ^ Chen Apuy 1992, p. 7
2. ^ Loría Chaves & Rodríguez Chaves 2001
3. ^ ^{a b} Chen Apuy 1992, p. 3
4. ^ Chen Apuy 1992, p. 5
5. ^ Chen Apuy 1992, p. 2
6. ^ UNHCR 2003

Sources

• Chen Apuy, Hilda (December 1992), "La minoría china en Costa Rica", Revista Reflexiones 1 (5), ISSN 1659-2859, http://www.reflexiones.fcs.ucr.ac.cr/documentos/5/la_minoria.pdf, retrieved 2009-05-07 
• Costa Rica: Chinese mafia in Costa Rica, including its activities and police actions against it, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, April 2003, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,QUERYRESPONSE,CRI,4562d94e2,3f7d4d87a,0.html, retrieved 2009-05-07 
• Loría Chaves, Marlene; Rodríguez Chaves, Alonso (2001), "La inmigración china a Costa Rica. Entre la explotación y la exclusión (1870-1910)", Revista de historia 44 (2): 159–192 

Further reading

• Huesmann, James L. (1991), "The Chinese in Costa Rica, 1855-1897", Historian 53 (4): 711–720, doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1991.tb00830.x