Corinto is a town, with a population of 18,602 (2022 estimate), on the northwest Pacific coast of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

in the province of

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 ...

. The municipality was founded in 1863.

History

Early years

The town of Corinto was founded in 1849. It first came into prominence as a port in 1863, due to its spacious and sheltered harbour. It superseded El Realejo, which was from 1550 to 1850 the principal seaport of Nicaragua but became partly filled with sandbanks.

British occupation

When Nicaragua refused to pay Britain an indemnity for the annexation of the Mosquito Reserve, the British responded by occupying the Nicaraguan Pacific port of Corinto on 27 April 1895. Eventually the British left after being paid indemnities by the Nicaraguan government.

United States intervention

On May 2, 1896, U.S. Marines landed in Corinto to protect American interests during political unrest. In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed the African-American writer

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ...

U.S. Consul to Corinto. On January 25, 1922, the USS ''Galveston'' landed a detachment of U.S. Marines at Corinto, to reinforce the

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

legation guard during a period of political tension. While supporting the Contra war against the

Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

government in the 1980s, U.S. Forces mined the Port of Corinto. On October 10, 1983, an attack destroyed of fuel. It is believed that this attack was directed by the CIA and carried out by U.S.

Navy Seals The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

Economy

Corinto was a railroad terminus and is

's largest and only Pacific port for the import and export of goods. It has a

container terminal A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land v ...

and is able to manage a wide variety of

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

: liquid, bulk, containers, cars, etc.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Corinto is twinned with: *

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, Germany *

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany *

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, United Kingdom *

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, United States

References

External links

* http://corinto.sozac.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20120313061011/http://corintounido.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20061021232053/http://www.epn.com.ni/corinto.php * http://www.portalcorinto.com (informational site in Spanish).
Corinto Photos
* https://www.facebook.com/groups/CorintoChinandegaOfficial/
Picture of Isla El Cardon Lighthouse
{{Authority control , additional=Q60220118 Municipalities of the Chinandega Department Lighthouses in Nicaragua