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So I guess we could generalize and say that counting gringos in Costa Rica is like counting illegal immigrants in the U.S. – – – nobody knows!
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”costaricabill”]…nobody knows![/quote]
I would have to agree with that.[/quote]The whole point of this thread was a question posed by Scott. The government in CR released figures and statistics about Americans living in CR. Scott asked if we felt the numbers were accurate. My answer is NO. They are much too low. Can I provide a completely accurate number…. NO. But based on personal experience in CR I CAN say that there are many people that were not included in the count.
An interesting question… but sweikert925 have you ever been to CR?
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”imxploring”]
The government in CR released figures and statistics about Americans living in CR. Scott asked if we felt the numbers were accurate. My answer is NO. They are much too low.
[/quote]
No. The government posted figures for [b]legal[/b] immigrants to Costa Rica based on the records they have available via applications for legal residency. Since illegal residents do not make their presence known to the government, the numbers published by the government (and reported by La Nacion) are by definition lower than the [b]total number[/b] of Americans living in CR. You and I seem to agree on that point based on the comment you left on May 3.My Spanish is pretty minimal but I did run the pertinent portions of the source report through Google translate and in no place does the report mention that it also takes illegal aliens into account when calcuating the numbers. Some here seem to think the the CR government is deliberately undercounting but I don’t see why they would and if we all agree that the total number of Americans is higher than the number of Americans legally living here then where’s the argument?
[quote=”imxploring”]
but sweikert925 have you ever been to CR?[/quote]
Yes[/quote]So then the simple question is….and the issue this whole thread is based on….. Are there more than 16,000 US citizens living more than 6 months per year in CR? We’ll ignore legal status. That’s all Scott asked. And based on your comments I believe you would say YES.
Some have been in CR for many years. The reported 16,000 that the government captured for their report represent only a portion of the total. While I believe the number is at least 50% higher it may very well be higher.
[i]Since all gringos look alike[/i] 🙄 it is hard to say, how many Canadians, Brits, Aussies, French, Italians, etc are here and may be mistaken for Americans, only by sight, of course.
[quote=”costaricafinca”][i]Since all gringos look alike[/i] 🙄 it is hard to say, how many Canadians, Brits, Aussies, French, Italians, etc are here and may be mistaken for Americans, only by sight, of course.[/quote]
Exactly and we have to be careful – the last time I checked Canadians were American – I think it should say US Citizens or former US citizens. 😆
[quote=”johnr”][quote=”costaricafinca”][i]Since all gringos look alike[/i] 🙄 it is hard to say, how many Canadians, Brits, Aussies, French, Italians, etc are here and may be mistaken for Americans, only by sight, of course.[/quote]
Exactly and we have to be careful – the last time I checked Canadians were American – I think it should say US Citizens or former US citizens. :lol:[/quote]
You need to check again,Canadians are not American,Never have been Never want to be Even though Americans would like to think of Canada as the 51st State we are definately not Americans
“You need to check again,Canadians are not American,Never have been Never want to be Even though Americans would like to think of Canada as the 51st State we are definately not Americans.”
I think the point is that from the southern tip of South America to the northern reaches of Canada, we’re all part of South, Central or North America — therefore we’re all Americans (not necessarily citizens of USA – which is only a part of the much larger “Americas”.)
[quote=”squigglesrus”]”You need to check again,Canadians are not American,Never have been Never want to be Even though Americans would like to think of Canada as the 51st State we are definately not Americans.”
I think the point is that from the southern tip of South America to the northern reaches of Canada, we’re all part of South, Central or North America — therefore we’re all Americans (not necessarily citizens of USA – which is only a part of the much larger “Americas”.)[/quote]
Exactly – I think Captain Crunch thinks Canada and Alaska are part of Eurasia.
[quote=”johnr”]
Exactly – I think Captain Crunch thinks Canada and Alaska are part of Eurasia.[/quote]This is distressingly close to Sarah Palin’s comment while she still governesss. She said she had never been to a foreign country – having recently to AK after a meeting in Canada to discuss the proposed new oil pipeline.:roll:
[quote=”pharg”]
This is distressingly close to Sarah Palin’s comment while she still governesss. She said she had never been to a foreign country – having recently to AK after a meeting in Canada to discuss the proposed new oil pipeline.:roll:[/quote]
sorry, governess is double ‘s’, not triple; and ‘returned’ should be inserted between ‘recently’ and ‘to’.
(sticky keys or brain ‘gas’ – you decide)8)
PEHThe first time I lived in C.R., 1979, the ‘official’ tally was 26,000 ‘furriners’ – as I recall they were considered mostly gringos, but I suppose the accuracy of that was less than it is now.:wink:
That was about the time of the first wave of Nicas streaming in, and many Ticos I encountered were scornful of them even then. The Nicas I met were quite happy to be in C.R.Federal Benefits section of embassy indicates that over 5,000 expats in CR are receiving federal benefits. I don’t know if they are all ‘retired’, but that would push the retired population from 19% of that 16,000 to around 30%. Odd, don’t you think?
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Federal Benefits section of embassy indicates that over 5,000 expats in CR are receiving federal benefits. I don’t know if they are all ‘retired’, but that would push the retired population from 19% of that 16,000 to around 30%. Odd, don’t you think?[/quote]
Fortunately, Mark Twain was able to put all of this discrepancy in perspective:
-“There are three kinds of lies: lies; damned lies; and statistics”
-“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable”
-“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as much as you please”He apparently spent some time with the Tico (and U.S.) government.
PEH
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