FACTBOX-Central American migrants in Costa Rica

(Reuters) - Costa Rica has a long tradition of accepting Nicaraguan immigrants seeking refuge from political and economic upheaval, and now is absorbing tens of thousands of them to support its surging economy.

Here are five facts about immigration there.

* The first two waves of Nicaraguan migrants were driven out by the Managua earthquake in 1972 and the war by Contra rebels against the Sandinista government between 1981 and 1990.

* According to Costa Rica's 2000 census, there were 224,374 Nicaraguans in Costa Rica, but the number has swelled to 400,000 to 500,000 in 2007.

* A Nicaraguan migrant can become a Costa Rican citizen by proving employment for five years or by demonstrating family ties, such as by taking a Costa Rican spouse.

* Nicaraguan migrants come across Costa Rica's lightly patrolled, porous 180 mile border, occasionally with the assistance of "coyotes," or human traffickers.

* Costa Rica's Pacific coast, said by some to be the sport fishing capital of the world, has attracted thousands of U.S. retirees to new luxury resorts and condominiums.

(Reporting by John McPhaul and Philip Barbara; Editing by Eddie Evans)