Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula Defies Poverty, Boasts World’s Highest Concentration of Centenarians

The Nicoya Peninsula on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, part of the Guanacaste province, is recognized as a “blue zone” where a remarkable number of residents live beyond a century, with current counts at 61 and projections of up to 73 by late 2026. Local activist Jorge Vindas and the Asociación Península de Nicoya Zona Azul track these elders, among them farmer Benerando López, now 103, and José Flores, whose claimed age of 119 could make him the world’s oldest person if verified.

Demographer Luis Rosero-Bixby of the University of Costa Rica’s Centro Centroamericano de Población has shown that Nicoyans experience mortality rates 20 % lower than the national average, and a 60-year-old man there is four times more likely to reach 100 than his Costa Rican peers. The region’s poverty, marked by simple homes and limited specialized care, is offset by robust primary health services, strong family ties, physical activity, and a diet rich in local corn varieties and calcium-enhancing cooking methods.

Genetic studies reveal longer telomeres among older Nicoyans, suggesting slower biological aging, while a higher proportion of Indigenous Chorotega ancestry appears among the longest-lived. International researchers, including Michel Poulain and Dan Buettner, have confirmed the legitimacy of the ages, adding Nicoya to a handful of global longevity zones. However, Rosero warns that if Flores’s record proves false, it could undermine the credibility of the region’s longevity research.