El Realejo is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
in the
Chinandega
Chinandega () is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's 2nd most important city (economy) and 6th largest ci ...
department of
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
.
History
The town of El Realejo was constructed in 1532, during the first years of
Spanish colonization. During this period it served as Nicaragua's principal port, and remained so until the beginning of the 17th century, when
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
attacks started to threaten the town's commercial life-line. The importance of El Realejo was further diminished by the construction of
Corinto, which came to be Nicaragua's new principal port.
In 1845 a shipment of weapons for the government in
León was seized by the invading forces of
Francisco Malespín
Francisco Malespín Herrera (1806 – 25 November 1846) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician, elected as the president of El Salvador in 1844. He served from 7 February 1844 to 15 February 1845, when he was deposed by his vice pres ...
during the ''
Guerra de Malespín''.
Economy
Today, the economy is based on agriculture, fishing, and the raising of animals. El Realejo is characterized by open expanses of tropical savannah that give way to mountains and beaches.
References
Municipalities of the Chinandega Department
1532 establishments in the Spanish Empire
Populated places established in 1532
{{Nicaragua-geo-stub