- Summary
- Adherents
- Religious Freedom
- Socio-economic
- Public Opinion
Religious Adherents1 |
Costa Rica | Central America | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'i | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| Buddhist | 0.0% | 0.1% | 5.8% |
| Chinese Universalist | 0.5% | 0.1% | 5.8% |
| Christian | 97.0% | 96.2% | 33.3% |
| Confucianist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Ethnoreligionist | 0.2% | 0.6% | 4.0% |
| Hindu | 0.0% | 0.0% | 13.6% |
| Jain | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Jewish | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Muslim | 0.0% | 0.4% | 20.8% |
| Shintoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Sikh | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Spiritist | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| Taoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Zoroastrian | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Other Religions | 0.0% | 0.1% | 1.6% |
| Neo-religions | 0.0% | 0.1% | -- |
| Non-religious | 1.6% | 1.3% | 11.7% |
| Atheist | 0.2% | 0.3% | 2.3% |
Religious Demography
The country has an area of 19,730 square miles and a population of 4.3 million, according to the National Institute of Census and Statistics. The most recent nationwide survey of religion, conducted in 2006 by the University of Costa Rica, found that 47.2 percent of the population identify themselves as practicing Roman Catholics, 27.3 percent consider themselves nonpracticing Roman Catholics, 12.8 percent state they are evangelical Protestants, 9.2 percent report that they do not have a religion, and 3.3 percent declare that they belong to "another religion." Apart from the dominant Catholic religion, there are several other religious groups in the country. Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist, and other Protestant groups have significant membership. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has a temple in San Jose that served as a regional worship center for Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Although they represent less than 1 percent of the population, Jehovah's Witnesses have a strong presence on the Caribbean coast. Seventh-day Adventists operate a university that attracts students from throughout the Caribbean Basin. The Unification Church maintains its continental headquarters for Latin America in San Jose. Non-Christian religious groups, including followers of Judaism, Islam, Taoism, Hare Krishna, Scientology, Tenrikyo, and the Baha'i Faith, claim membership throughout the country, with the majority of worshippers residing in the Central Valley (the area of the capital). While there is no general correlation between religion and ethnicity, indigenous peoples are more likely to practice animism than other religions. Foreign missionaries and clergy of all denominations work and proselytize freely.2
Sources
Note: All country profiles, maps, and flags are taken from The World Factbook, 2005.
1. The World Christian Database (WCD) is based on the 2600-page award-winning World Christian Encyclopedia and World Christian Trends, first published in 1982 and revised in 2001. This extensive work on World religion is now completely updated and integrated into the WCD online database. Designed for both the casual user and research scholar, information is readily available on religious activities, growth rates, religious literature, worker activity, and demographic statistics. Additional secular data is incorporated on population, health, education, and communications. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
2. The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
