Building the Jungle Train

Until about 100 years ago, travelers going between San Jose and the coastal city of Puerto Limon had to journey through miles and miles of thick, overgrown rain forest. But by 1890, a railroad linked the two cities and included many stops along the way. But the "Jungle Train," which tool 19 years to build, required more workers than Costa Rica had to give. Thousands of people came to Costa Rica from Great Britain, Jamaica, Italy, and China to work on the railroad.

These days their descendants add to the colorful mix of people who call themselves ticos. Jamaican descendants settled mainly along the Caribbean coast. There they live with descendants of other Caribbean islanders whom the Spaniards brought as slaves in the 1500s. These close knit communities share the traditions such as music, dance, food, and language of their long ago island homes. More recent newcomers include people from neighboring Nicaragua. As many as 200,000 nicas, as they are called, live in Costa Rica. Most find work on coffee and banana plantations.