The Cabécar of Costa Rica

The Cabécar of Costa Rica, numbering approximately 15,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of Costa Rica, belonging to the Chibchan language family and recognized as one of the country’s largest and most culturally resilient native groups. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Cabécar is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Cabécar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Costa Rica
People Cluster: Central American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Cabécar (cjp)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 15,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG025024
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Pray for the Cabécar of Costa Rica

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cabécar
Language Family: Chibchan

78%
%
Cabécar Speakers

Media Resources in Cabécar:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Cabécar:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Traducciones al Cabecar✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Cabécar bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Cabécar are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Cabécar:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Cabécar of Costa Rica

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
readExodus 14:22

Pray that the God who split the sea so that the Israelites might pass through would do another great work among these people, softening the hearts of those who remain lost to the good news and saving them from their sins.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Chirripo (Cabécar ) Across Countries (ROP3 - 102163) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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