The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas led by Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador prompted the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. After losing free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA was elected president in 2006, 2011, and most recently in 2016. Municipal, regional, and national-level elections since 2008 have been marred by widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are being rebuilt, but democratic institutions have weakened under the ORTEGA administration as the president has garnered full control over all four branches of government: the presidency, the judicial, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Electoral Council.
Nicaragua has over 6 million people with approximately 48% that are 24 or younger. Geographically, it is the largest country in Central America and also the poorest country, second poorest in the Western Hemisphere with widespread underemployment and poverty. Textiles and agriculture combined account for nearly 50% of Nicaragua's exports. Beef, coffee, and gold are Nicaragua’s top three export commodities.*
ESTELI, NICARAGUA
Population 107,458 people
The municipality of Estelí is an important commerce center and an obligatory route when traveling to the departments of Nueva Segovia and Madriz. Its urban area, where visitors will find a nice wide park with lots of trees and a Neoclassical cathedral, is also an archaeological and paleontological site. Estelí also has three natural reserves, renowned tobacco companies, art centers and a history marked by the revolution of 1979.**
FUN FACTS ABOUT NICARAGUA
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Nicaragua produces more than 50% of the power supply from renewable resources. It’s way ahead of its peers. As a comparison, US produces 13% of energy from renewable resources.
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Lake Nicaragua covers a significant area of the country. It has some 430 volcanic islands, one of which is the biggest island on the lake, Ometepe Island.
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Nicaraguans eat Gallo pinto almost every day. It is rice mixed with black beans. Nicaraguans claim it as traditional Nicaraguan food
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Nicaragua doesn’t use street names or numbers, they are contextual and are like this: "from the Church, one block south, half a block east"
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The oldest city in Central America is Ruins of Leon Viejo, Nicaraguawhich is over 1500 years old.
*https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nu.html
**https://vianica.com/nicaragua/esteli/esteli/5.2
