Puerto Cabezas (; en, Bragman's Bluff; miq, Bilwi) is a municipality and city in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

. It is the capital of Miskito nation in the

North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region The North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It was created by the Autonomy Statute of 7 September 1987. It covers an area of 33,106 km2 and has a population of 541,189 (2021 estimate). It is the l ...

. The municipality and the entire region are native American lands. The city of Puerto Cabezas borders the Community of Ten Communities.

History

Hurricane Felix Hurricane Felix was an extremely powerful Category 5 Atlantic hurricane which was the southernmost-landfalling Category 5 storm on record, surpassing Hurricane Edith of 1971. It was the sixth named storm, second hurricane, and second Category ...

hit Puerto Cabezas on September 4, 2007, killing about 100 people.

Hurricane Eta Hurricane Eta was a deadly and erratic Category 4 hurricane that devastated parts of Central America in early November 2020. The record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, thirteenth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the extremely-active 20 ...

hit the city on November 3, 2020, causing extensive damage. On November 16, 2020,

Hurricane Iota Hurricane Iota was a devastating late-season Category 4 Atlantic hurricane which caused severe damage to areas of Central America already devastated by Hurricane Eta just less than two weeks prior. The 31st and final tropical cyclone, 30th na ...

hit the city as a strong Category 4.

Climate

Puerto Cabezas has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Am'') with significant rainfall year round, and a short dry season in March and April. Even so, these months see an average rainfall of and . The average temperature ranges from in February to in May. The average annual rainfall is , while 198 days receive measurable rain during an average year.

Culture

Puerto Cabezas culture is diverse, being Miskito culture the dominant, followed by Creole, Mayangna and Latino. The culture, like the rest of Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, has a very prominent Caribbean influence.

Education

The University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast (URACCAN) has a campus in Puerto Cabezas, as well as in several other locations in the RACCN and the RACCS.

Transportation

The city is served by Puerto Cabezas Airport.

Twin towns – sister cities

Puerto Cabezas is

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

to: * Burlington, United States * Luleå, Sweden * Sant Pere de Ribes, Spain *

Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish spelling of the name, ''Villafranca del Panadés'', is no longer in official use since 1982 (Law 12/1982, o ...

, Spain

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region