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 countr ...
. It covers an area of 3,491 km2 and has a population of 275,291 (2021 estimate). The capital is
Ocotal
Ocotal () is the capital of the Nueva Segovia Department in Nicaragua, Central America and the municipal seat of Ocotal Municipality.
History
The region currently occupied by the city of Ocotal was occupied by different ethnic groups that had pr ...
.
History of Las Segovias
''Las Segovias'' is a region encompassed by the five departments of northern Nicaragua:
Estelí
Estelí (), officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and municipality within the Estelí department. It is the 3rd largest city in Nicaragua due to the high urbanization of its municipality, at 83%, with an urban population of ...
,
Jinotega
Jinotega () (derived from Náhuatl: ''Xiotenko'' ‘place next to the jiñocuajo trees’) is the capital city of the Department of Jinotega in north-central Nicaragua.
The city is located in a long valley surrounded by the cool climate and D ...
Matagalpa
Matagalpa () is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 111,258 (2021 estimate),Dipilto, Jalapa and Mozonte, which extend to the
Coco River
River Wangki in Miskitu or Río Coco, in Spanish, formerly known as the Río Segovia, Cape River, or Yara River, is a river located on the border of northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras. It is the longest river that runs entirely within the Ce ...
. On the southern border, the area is bounded by the mountains around the towns of La Trinidad and San Nicolás, which sweep downward to the valleys between Sébaco and
El Sauce
El Sauce is a municipality in the La Unión department
La Unión () is a department of El Salvador. It is located in the eastern part of the country and its capital is La Unión. It covers a total of and has a population of 263,200. The ...
. Towards the east the river valleys bordering La Concordia,
Jinotega
Jinotega () (derived from Náhuatl: ''Xiotenko'' ‘place next to the jiñocuajo trees’) is the capital city of the Department of Jinotega in north-central Nicaragua.
The city is located in a long valley surrounded by the cool climate and D ...
, San Sebastián de Yalí and Wiwilí de Jinotega form the demarcations of the natural boundary.
Finally, on the west the boundary extends from the slope of a mountainous triangle which extends to the
coastal plain
A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Co ...
adjacent to the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
encompassing
Estelí
Estelí (), officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and municipality within the Estelí department. It is the 3rd largest city in Nicaragua due to the high urbanization of its municipality, at 83%, with an urban population of ...
,
San José de Cusmapa
San José de Cusmapa is a municipality in the Madriz 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 ...
, and
San Juan de Limay
San Juan de Limay is a municipality in the Estelí department of Nicaragua. It is famous for its artisan production of soapstone (marmolina) sculptures.
San Juan de Limay is located 195 km north of Managua in the north of Nicaragua only a s ...
.
In pre-Columbian times the region was inhabited by Native American people known as Mayangnas and
Matagalpa
Matagalpa () is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 111,258 (2021 estimate),Nahua
The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...
conquistadors
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
established the city of ''Vieja'' and later ''Antigua'', to implement the ''Corregimiento'' system over the indigenous inhabitants. The ''corregidor'' served as a type of mayor to administrate a district, exploiting the local populations to mine gold and other minerals for Spain. The Spanish period decimated the indigenous population reducing its numbers from estimates of 75,000 people to 4,500 at the end of their occupation.
After gaining its independence, Nicaragua drafted the Constitution of 1858, which established seven departments: Chinandega, Chontales, Granada, León, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, and Rivas. The Department of Jinotega was created from Matagalpa in 1892. Simultaneously, the Estelí Department was created from Nueva Segovia. Nueva Segovia was further divided in 1936 with the creation of the Madriz Department.
In 1926, during the
United States occupation of Nicaragua
The United States occupation of Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933 was part of the Banana Wars, when the US military invaded various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934. The formal occupation began in 1912, even though there were various othe ...
Augusto César Sandino
Augusto C. Sandino (; May 18, 1895 February 21, 1934), full name Augusto Nicolás Calderón de Sandino y José de María Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupat ...
, who established a network of espionage agents and collaborators from the local population. In 1933, during the negotiations for peace in the region, Sandino asked newly elected president
Juan Bautista Sacasa
Juan Bautista Sacasa (21 December 1874 in León, Nicaragua – 17 April 1946 in Los Angeles, California) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1933 to 9 June 1936. He was the eldest son of Roberto Sacasa and Ángela Sacasa Cuadra, the for ...
to create a large autonomous department covering the area of ''Las Segovias''. Sandino's plan would have allowed him to administer the department and manage the civilian and military authorities. The government rejected the plan, giving the rebels only a small colony on the banks of the Coco River, where the former troops were allowed to farm.
Ocotal
Ocotal () is the capital of the Nueva Segovia Department in Nicaragua, Central America and the municipal seat of Ocotal Municipality.
History
The region currently occupied by the city of Ocotal was occupied by different ethnic groups that had pr ...
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Quilalí
Quilalí is a town and a municipality in the Nueva Segovia Department of Nicaragua.
Community Background
Situated in a high mountainous region of Nicaragua lies Quilalí, the remote, large municipal head in the department of Nueva Segovia. It i ...