Which country uses the Costa Rican colón as its currency?

The country that uses the Costa Rican colón as its currency is Costa Rica.

The colón, written in Spanish as colón costarricense and abbreviated CRC, is Costa Rica’s official currency. Its name honors Christopher Columbus, whose Spanish name is Cristóbal Colón. One colón was traditionally divided into 100 céntimos, although céntimos are no longer commonly used in everyday transactions.

Costa Rica introduced the currency in 1896, replacing the Costa Rican peso at par. During the first half of the twentieth century, several banks issued colones, but the Central Bank of Costa Rica became the sole issuer in 1951. Coins and banknotes carry the colón symbol, ₡, which should not be confused with the cent sign or the Ghanaian cedi symbol.

The neighboring options are different currencies: Honduras uses the lempira, Nicaragua uses the córdoba, and Panama uses the balboa alongside the United States dollar. Costa Rica’s currency is often called the colón in the singular and colones in the plural. Its exchange rate has operated under changing systems, including a crawling peg and later greater market flexibility.