In this series of articles we overview languages present in any given country. This time we are looking at the languages spoken in Costa Rica
The biggest languages present in Costa Rica include:
- Spanish – 4.43 million speakers;
- English – 408 thousand speakers;
The sole official language of the country is Spanish.
Below you will find summaries for the languages supported by our translation services.
Spanish
Spanish is a Romance language, which is a branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the sole official language of Costa Rica.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 558 million |
|---|---|
| Language family | Indo-European |
| Writing | Spanish alphabet |
| Major Spanish-speaking populations in: | 20 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
More than a hundred million people use Spanish as their language of day-to-day communication. With regard to the number of speakers, the most notable 3 countries are Spain, Argentina, and Mexico.
More than 4.43 million residents of Costa Rica understand Spanish.
Writing
Spanish uses the Latin alphabet. It employs the extended version of the script, however, with 9 additional symbols. It is written from left to right.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Costa Rican market via the Spanish language, you might be interested in the following services:
- Spanish Document Translation
- Spanish Desktop Publishing and InDesign Translation
- Spanish E-Commerce Translation
English
English is a Germanic language, closely related to Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic, Swedish, and other languages of the same branch of the language family. It has no country-wide official status in Costa Rica.
| Number of speakers worldwide | 1.15 billion |
|---|---|
| Language family | Indo-European |
| Writing | English alphabet |
| Major English-speaking populations in: | 35 countries |
Demographics and geographic distribution
English is spoken by around 1.15 billion people around the world. Examples of countries, where English has a major presence, include:
- Myanmar
- Colombia
- Tanzania
- Russia
Less than a quarter of the population speaks English in Costa Rica, 408 thousand people in total.
Writing
English employs the English script, which in itself is a sub-type of the Latin script. It is written in the left-to-right fashion.
Translation services
If you intend to expand to the Costa Rican market via the English language, you might be interested in the following services:
Related services
We hope you have found the answers to the question about what languages are spoken in Costa Rica“. If you wish to know more about these languages or would like to inquire about our translation services, please contact us at [email protected].
