They form one of the main Chinese communities in America; with around 9,000 citizens living in the country (according to the 2011 census)in the Caribbean Basin the size is only surpassed by that of Panama.
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.
[8] Chinese mafia are believed to have begun operating in Costa Rica in 1991; they are typically involved in collection of gambling debts.