Nicaragua
Nicaragua (,
IPA ) is a republic in
Central America. Although it is the largest nation in the region, it is also the least densely populated per km². The country is bordered on the north by
Honduras and on south by
Costa Rica. Its western
coastline is on the
Pacific Ocean, while the east side of the country is on the
Caribbean Sea.
The country's name is a
portmanteau of
Nicarao, the name of the
Nahuatl-speaking tribe which inhabited the shores of
Lago de Nicaragua before the
Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the
Spanish word , meaning
water, due to the presence of the large lakes Lago de Nicaragua and
Lago de Managua in the region.
At the time of the Spanish conquest, Nicaragua was the name given to the narrow strip of land between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean. Chief Nicarao ruled over that land when the first conquerors arrived. The term was eventually applied, by extension, to the group that inhabited that region: the Nicaraos or Niquiranos.
The pre-columbian Nicarao came to the area from northern regions after the fall of
Teotihuacán, on the advice of their priests or religious leaders. According to tradition, they were to travel south until they encountered a lake with two volcanoes rising out of the waters, and stopped when they reached
Ometepe, the largest fresh-water volcanic island in the world.
In
1524,
Conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded the first
Spanish permanent settlements, including two of Nicaragua's principal towns:
Granada on
Lake Nicaragua and
Leon east of
Lake Managua. Settled as a colony of Spain within the kingdom of Guatemala in the
1520s, Nicaragua became a part of the
Mexican Empire and then gained its independence as a part of the
United Provinces of Central America in
1821 and as an independent republic in its own right in
1838. The
Mosquito Coast based on
Bluefields on the
Atlantic was claimed by the
United Kingdom and its predecessors as a
protectorate from
1655 to
1850; this was delegated to
Honduras in
1859 and transferred to Nicaragua in
1860, though remained
autonomous until
1894.
Much of Nicaragua's early politics following independence was characterized by the rivalry between the liberal élite of León and the conservative élite of Granada. This rivalry sometimes spilled into
civil war. Initially invited by the Liberals in
1855 to join their struggle against the conservatives, a
United States adventurer named
William Walker won the liberal's war so easily that he saw the chance to take over the country. Walker named himself president in
1856 and offered the United States a new slave state. Fearing the possibility of his plans for expansion, several Central American countries united to drive him out of Nicaragua in
1857, and he was executed in neighbouring Honduras in 1861. A period of three decades of conservative rule ensued.
Taking advantage of divisions within the conservative ranks,
José Santos Zelaya led a liberal revolt that brought him to power in
1893. Zelaya ended the longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom over the Atlantic Coast in
1894, and reincorporated the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua.
Nicaragua offered assistance during
World War II, and was the first country in the world to ratify the
UN Charter.
The leftist
Sandinistas (the
FSLN) took power after a long civil war and formed a government in 1979. The Sandanista government organized a literacy drive to prepare the largely illiterate electorate for elections, and then coordinated Nicaragua's first multiparty election in 1984, at which time the Sandinista's won a large majority of the popular vote. The country faced a violent insurgency by the
Contras, significant elements of which were mercenary armies organized, trained and funded illegally by the United States (The United States and the Nicaraguan Revolution. The National Security Archive, The George Washington University; The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations / Documentation of Official U.S. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras. The National Security Archive, The George Washington University). By the time of the next elections in 1990, the Sandinistas lost the mandate to rule and assumed the role of Nicaragua's primary opposition party.
Politics of Nicaragua takes place in a framework of a
presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the
President of Nicaragua is both
head of state and
head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the government.
Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the
National Assembly. The
Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Nicaragua's current president is
Enrique Bolaños Geyer.
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Listen to Nicaragua's National Anthem!Nicaragua is a
unitary republic. For administrative purposes it is divided into 15
departments (
departamentos) and two self-governing regions (autonomous communities) based on the Spanish model. The two autonomous regions are
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte and
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur, often referred to as
RAAN and
RAAS, respectively. Until they were granted autonomy in 1985 they formed the single department of
Zelaya.
Map of Nicaragua showing department boundariesAt approximately 129,500 square kilometers (50,000
sq mi)—roughly the size of the state of New York, Nicaragua contains 7% of the world's
biodiversity and the second largest
rainforest in the Americas. Close to 20% of the country's territory is protected as national parks or biological reserves. The country is bordered by Costa Rica on the south and Honduras on the north, with the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Nicaragua has three distinct geographical regions: the
Pacific Lowlands, the North-Central Mountains and the
Atlantic Lowlands. Nicaragua is administratively divided into 15
departments and two
autonomous regions. The departments are subdivided into municipalities (
municipios).
The Pacific Lowlands
Located in the west of the country, these lowlands consist of a broad, hot, fertile plain. Punctuating this plain are several large volcanoes of the
Maribios mountain range, including
Mombacho just outside Granada, and
Momotombo near to León. The lowland area runs from the
Gulf of Fonseca to Nicaragua's Pacific border with Costa Rica south of
Lake Nicaragua. This region is the most populous. About 27% of the nation's population lives in and around
Managua, the capital city, on the southern shores of Lake Managua.
In addition to its beach and resort communities, the Pacific Lowlands is also the repository for much of Nicaragua's Spanish colonial heritage. Cities such as
Granada and
León abound in colonial architecture and artifacts.
The Central Region
This is an upland region away from the Pacific coast, with a cooler climate than the Pacific Lowlands. About a quarter of the country's agriculture takes place in this region, with
coffee grown on the higher slopes.
Oaks,
pines,
moss,
ferns and
orchids are abundant in the
cloud forests of the region.
Bird life in the forests of the central region includes the
Resplendent Quetzal,
goldfinches,
hummingbirds,
jays and
toucanets.
The Atlantic Lowlands
This large
rainforest region, with several large rivers running through it, is very sparsely populated and is the second-largest rainforest in the Americas after the
Amazon in Brazil. The
Río Coco forms the border with Honduras. The Caribbean coastline is much more sinuous than its generally straight Pacific counterpart. Lagoons and deltas make it very irregular.
Nicaragua's
tropical east coast is very different from the rest of the country. The climate is predominantly tropical, with high temperature and high humidity. Around the area's principal city of
Bluefields, English is widely spoken along with the official Spanish and the population more closely resembles that found in many typical Caribbean ports than the rest of Nicaragua.
A great variety of birds can be observed including
eagles,
turkeys,
toucans,
parakeets and
macaws. Animal life in the area includes several different species of
monkeys,
ant-eaters, white-tailed
deer and
tapirs.
See also:
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Volcanoes of Nicaragua*
List of cities in NicaraguaNicaragua's economy has historically been based on the export of
cash crops such as
bananas,
coffee and
tobacco. Nicaragua's
rum is renowned as among the best in Latin America, and its
tobacco and
beef are also well regarded. During the
Contra War in the early 1980's, much of the country's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, and inflation ran for a time at several thousand per cent. Since the end of the war almost two decades ago, many state-owned industries have been
privatized. Inflation has been brought to manageable levels, and the economy has grown quite rapidly in recent years.
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Pacific Beaches in Nicaragua |
As in many other developing countries, a large segment of the economically poor in Nicaragua are women. In addition, a relatively high percentage of Nicaragua's average homes have a woman as head of household: 39% of urban homes and 28% of the rural ones.
The country is still a recovering economy and it continues to implement further reforms, on which aid from the
IMF is conditional. In 2005, finance ministers of the leading eight industrialized nations (
G-8) agreed to forgive Nicaragua's foreign debt, as part of the
HIPC program.
The Nicaraguan unit of currency is the
Córdoba (NIO) and was named after
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba its national founder.
According to the 2005 census, Nicaragua has a population of 5,483,400, an increase of 20% on the 1995 census figure of 4,357,099.
Nicaraguans of European or mixed European and indigenous stock (
mestizos) make up a combined 86% of the population, with about 69% being mestizos and 17% being of
European descent (mostly Spanish, German, Italian and French).
In the nineteenth century, there had been a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the Hispanic mainstream. Primarily in the 19th century, Nicaragua saw several waves of immigration from other European nations. In particular the northern cities of Esteli and Matagalpa have significant 4th generation German communities. Most of the Mestizo and European descent population live in the western regions of the country as in the cities of Managua, Granada and Leon.
About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or afronicaragüense, and mainly resides in the country's sparsely populated eastern or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured labourers brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. Nicaragua has the second largest black population in Central America after Panama. There is also a smaller number of
Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent.
The remaining 5% is comprised of the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's
pre-Colombian population consisted of the
Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west after whom the country is named, and six other ethnic groups including the
Miskitos, Ramas and
Sumos along the Caribbean coast. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of
Zelaya - consisting of the eastern half of the country - into two autonomous regions and granted the African and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule within the Republic.
There is also a small
Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of
Syrian,
Armenian,
Palestinian and
Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an
East Asian community of
Japanese,
Taiwanese and
Chinese people of almost 8,000. These minorities speak Spanish while maintaining their ancestral languages as well.
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Nicaraguan indigenous on a ferry to Ometepe Island |
Spanish is spoken by about 90% of the country's population; Nicaraguans speak standard Iberoamerican Spanish with some similarities to
Galician Spanish—structurally similar to
Argentinian Spanish which uses "vos" instead of "tu" along with the "
vos" conjugation, but with a different intonation. The black population of the east coast region has
English as its first language. Several indigenous peoples of the east still use their original languages.
See:
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Central American SpanishRoman Catholicism is the major religion, but
evangelical Protestant groups have grown recently, and there are strong
Anglican and
Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast.
90% of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban. An estimated 2 million Nicaraguans live outside of Nicaragua.
The population of Nicaragua is very young with approx. 40% under 18 years of age. The country has strong folklore, music and religious traditions, largely founded on
European (Iberian Peninsula) culture but enriched with Amerindian sounds and flavours. Nicaragua has historically been an important source of
poetry in the Hispanic world, with internationally renowned contributors such as
Rubén Darío.
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A Nicaraguan Child in Granada, Nicaragua |
Education is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory, and communities located on the Atlantic Coast have access to education in their native language. Higher education has financial, organic and administrative autonomy, according to the law. Also, freedom of subjects is recognized.
Nicaraguan culture can further be defined in several distinct strands. The west of the country was colonized by
Spain and its people are mostly
Mestizos and
European in composition; Spanish is invariably their first language.
The eastern half of the country, on the other hand, was once a
British protectorate.
English is still predominant in this region and spoken domestically along with
Spanish which is formally taught in schools. Its culture is somewhat similar to
Caribbean nations, although recent immigration by
mestizos has largely influenced younger generations and an increasing number of people are either bilingual at home or speak
Spanish only. There is a large population of people of mixed
African descent, as well as a smaller
Garifuna population. Due to the African influence, in the East Coast, there is a different kind of music. One of the most popular
dance music is
El Palo de Mayo, or
The May Pole, which is celebrated during the May Pole Festival, in May. The music is sensual with intense rhythms. Of the cultures that were present before
European
colonization, the
Nahuatl-speaking peoples who populated the west of the country have essentially been assimilated into the latino culture. In the east, however, several indigenous groups have maintained a distinct identity. The Sumos and Ramas people still use their original languages.
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Communications in Nicaragua*
Foreign relations of Nicaragua*
Military of Nicaragua*
Nicaraguan Cuisine*
Nicaraguan Diaspora*
Transportation in Nicaragua*
Asociación de Scouts de Nicaragua*
List of Films and Books about Nicaragua# Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin.
The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, Basic Books, September 20, 2005.# Matilde Zimmermann.
Sandinista, Duke Universtiy Press, 2000.#
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth addition, Ed. Peter N. Stearns, 2001. p. 954
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After Revolution: Mapping Gender and Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Nicaragua Florence E. Babb
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Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua Stephen Kinzer
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The Civil War in Nicaragua: Inside the Sandinistas Roger Miranda and William Ratliff
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Contradiction and Conflict : The Popular Church in Nicaragua Debra Sabia
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The Contras, 1980-1989 : A Special Kind of Politics R. Pardo-Maurer
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The Country Under My Skin : A Memoir of Love and War Gioconda Belli
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Dark Alliance : The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion Gary Webb
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The Death of Ben Linder: The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua Joan Kruckewitt
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To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965 Jeffrey L. Gould
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The Grimace of Macho Raton: Artisans, Identity, and Nation in Late-Twentieth Century Western Nicaragua Les W. Field
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The Jaguar Smile : A Nicaraguan Journey Salman Rushdie
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Life Is Hard: Machismo, Danger, and the Intimacy of Power in Nicaragua Roger N. Lancaster
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Life Stories of the Nicaraguan Revolution Denis Lynn Daly Heyck
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Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
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Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs: Gender Identity Politics in Nicaragua 1979 - 1999 Lorraine Bayard de Volo
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My Car in Managua Forrest D. Colburn and Roger Sanchez Flores
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Nicaragua Thomas Walker
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Nicaragua Betrayed Anastasio Somoza and Jack Cox
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Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family Shirley Christian
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Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq Stephen Kinzer
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The Patient Impatience: From Boyhood to Guerilla : A Personal Narrative of Nicaragua's Struggle for Liberation Tomas Borge
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The Real Contra War: Highlander Peasant Resistance in Nicaragua Timothy C. Brown
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Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution Matilde Zimmermann
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Sandinista Communism and Rural Nicaragua Janusz Bugajski
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Sandinistas: The Party And The Revolution Dennis Gilbert
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Sandinistas Speak Tomas Borge
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The Sandino Affair Neill MacAulay
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Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle Margaret Randall and Lynda Yanz
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Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990 Robert Kagan
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The War in Nicaragua William Walker
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Washington, Somoza and the Sandinistas : Stage and Regime in US Policy toward Nicaragua 1969-1981 Morris H. Morley
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Washington's War on Nicaragua Holly Sklar
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With the Old Corps in Nicaragua George B. Clark
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Intur Nicaragua's Official Tourism Site (English & Español)
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's Nicaragua's country page*
Government of Nicaragua - National Development Plan (Spanish)*
The Pangea Partnership eco-building workshops in Nicaragua
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Nicaraguan Art Art and literature by Nicaraguans
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Atelier Yoyita Art Gallery]
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Country profile: Nicaragua (BBC)
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El Observador Económico*
Marcaacme Art, Literature & Cultural Events in Nicaragua.(span)
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The Council on Hemispheric Affairs An Independent Source of Latin American News and Opinion
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Oficial Web Site About Esteli-Nicaragua Site about Esteli, history, people, music, tourism, external links
