Limón and its ethno-cultural characteristics

Abstract

This paper analyzes the process of emergence, in the Costa Rican Caribbean, of an ethno-cultural identity of Limón, with its traditions, mentality, population process and interaction of socio-cultural elements, being the city of Limón its maximum expression. Limón is different from the rest of the country, not only because of its natural characteristics: geography, flora, fauna and Caribbean climate, but also because of its ethno-cultural composition: blacks, Spanish-speakers, Chinese, indigenous people; with its interethnic mixture of mulattos, mestizos and sambos, where a very colorful socio-cultural compound was configured, due to the specificity of its economic-productive structure and regional historical process. This cultural expression should be seen within a political context, where social groups express their rights, interests and needs, since culture is a form of correlation and expression of political forces.