The 2011 Costa Rican census was undertaken by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC)) in Costa Rica. The semi-autonomous government body, INEC, was created by Census Law No. 7839 on 4 November 1998.

The census The census took place between Monday, 30 May 2011 and Friday, 3 June 2011 when 35,000 enumerators, mostly teachers, visited an estimated 1,300,000 households to count a population estimated before the census at about 4,650,000 individuals (the census itself counted 4,301,712 people).Semana del Censo Nacional: INEC pide a la población responder el Censo Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, Costa Rica, 2011-05-31. Costa Rica: 2011 Census Underway Starting Monday INSIDECOSTARICA, 2011-05-27.2011 Census Takers Fought Some Obstacles On Their First Day INSIDECOSTARICA, 2011-05-31.

The census questionnaire inquired about housing, including the physical and structural characteristics of the house, whether it was owned or rented, and if basic services (water, electricity) were present. The census form also asked about equipment in the house: telephone (mobile and fixed), vehicles, and information technology and communication (radio, television, cable or satellite, computer and internet).

Questions concerning the inhabitants asked about the number of people living in the household, number of households per housing unit, who was the head of the household, family relations between people living in the house, sex, age, and place of birth. Other questions inquired about disabilities and ethnic identification, among other things.

In Costa Rica, tourists and temporary visitors are not counted, but foreigners who have lived there for six months are included. Furthermore, participation is voluntary so residents can refuse to take part and enumerators will accept this response.

Primary school teachers have conducted the census since the 1950s. About 35,000 were needed in 2011 but not all teachers wanted to participate. The numbers were made up by students and statistics undergraduates from the University of Costa Rica, earning ₡50,000 ($100) for a week's work.

The census cost $3.6 million2011 Census to survey more than 4 million people living in Costa Rica The Tico Times, 2011-05-25. and preliminary results of the count were published in December 2011. It counted 4,301,712 people, an increase of 12.9 percent since the 2000 census.Costa Rica births decreasing The Tico Times, 2011-12-23

Results by canton Province Cantón Population as of2011 census Population as of2000 census Change PercentchangeSan JoséSan José -6.98% San JoséEscazú 7.90% San JoséDesamparados 7.72% San JoséPuriscal 12.23% San JoséTarrazú 14.97% San JoséAserrí 17.38% San JoséMora 21.36% San JoséGoicoechea -2.08% San JoséSanta Ana 42.36% San JoséAlajuelita 10.39% San JoséVázquez de Coronado 8.82% San JoséAcosta 8.30% San JoséTibás -10.03% San JoséMoravia 12.89% San JoséMontes de Oca -2.58% San JoséTurrubares 13.02% San JoséDota 6.58% San JoséCurridabat 7.09% San JoséPérez Zeledón 10.11% San JoséLeón Cortés Castro 4.31% AlajuelaAlajuela 14.37% AlajuelaSan Ramón 18.52% AlajuelaGrecia 18.09% AlajuelaSan Mateo 14.84% AlajuelaAtenas 13.26% AlajuelaNaranjo 13.59% AlajuelaPalmares 16.63% AlajuelaPoás 17.91% AlajuelaOrotina 29.52% AlajuelaSan Carlos 28.79% AlajuelaZarcero 12.54% AlajuelaSarchí 11.37% AlajuelaUpala 16.65% AlajuelaLos Chiles 20.29% AlajuelaGuatuso 18.88% CartagoCartago 12.00% CartagoParaíso 10.21% CartagoLa Unión 23.82% CartagoJiménez 4.44% CartagoTurrialba 1.61% CartagoAlvarado 16.45% CartagoOreamuno 16.50% CartagoEl Guarco 23.69% HerediaHeredia 18.98% HerediaBarva 25.34% HerediaSanto Domingo 15.32% HerediaSanta Bárbara 24.20% HerediaSan Rafael 23.25% HerediaSan Isidro 28.51% HerediaBelén 9.07% HerediaFlores 33.24% HerediaSan Pablo 32.95% HerediaSarapiquí 25.78% GuanacasteLiberia 34.87% GuanacasteNicoya 20.47% GuanacasteSanta Cruz 34.99% GuanacasteBagaces 22.31% GuanacasteCarrillo 35.95% GuanacasteCañas 8.83% GuanacasteAbangares 10.83% GuanacasteTilarán 9.90% GuanacasteNandayure 11.38% GuanacasteLa Cruz 16.21% GuanacasteHojancha 10.15% PuntarenasPuntarenas 12.21% PuntarenasEsparza 19.53% PuntarenasBuenos Aires 12.72% PuntarenasMontes de Oro 16.05% PuntarenasOsa 13.81% PuntarenasQuepos 33.05% PuntarenasGolfito 15.75% PuntarenasCoto Brus -4.06% PuntarenasParrita 33.05% PuntarenasCorredores 12.23% PuntarenasGarabito 66.01% LimónLimón 4.98% LimónPococí 22.15% LimónSiquirres 8.35% LimónTalamanca 18.78% LimónMatina 13.97% LimónGuácimo 18.31%

References

External links View the census form — English version View the census form — Spanish version Download the Spanish version as PDF file — Scribd account required (free) National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica Census supplement of La Nación newspaper