The first recorded arrival of people of African descent in
Costa Rica came with the Spanish conquistadors. Slave trade was common in all the countries conquered by
Spain, and in Costa Rica the first Black people seem to have come from specific sources in Africa- Equatorial and Western regions. People from these regions were considered ideal slaves due to a perceived reputation for being more robust, affable and hard-working than other Africans. They came from what is now the
Gambia (
Mandingas),
Guinea (specifically Wolofe),
Ghanaian (
Ashanti),
Benin (specifically
Ije / Ararás) and
Sudan (Puras). Slaves also came from other places, such as neighboring
Panama. However, the following century witnessed a gradual lessening of the differences between Black people and their white owners. As whites took Black women as their concubines, they freed the children that were born from this union. The same thing started to happen with the "
zambos", born of Amerindians and Black people. During the time of slavery, the slaves worked on cattle ranches of Guanacaste and the Central Valley plantations and cacao plantations in Matina, whose situation was more difficult. Over time, many whites freed their slaves and slavery was abolished in 1823, along with the other Central American countries. The largest Costa Rican Black community is from the Caribbean, which today constitutes the majority of the Costa Rican Black population. Costa Rica has the largest
Jamaican diaspora after
Cuba and Panama and its development as a nation is witness to this contribution. ==Notable Afro-Costa Ricans==