El Cuá is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Jinotega department 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 ...

. Formerly part of the municipality of El Cuá-Bocay, it became a separate municipality in 2002. Its population rose from 43,305 in 2005 to 56,897 in 2012. The area around El Cuá saw bitter fighting during the

Contra War The Nicaraguan Revolution () began with rising opposition to the Somoza family, Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The ...

in the 1980s, and the village was the home of that war's only known

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

casualty, the engineer Ben Linder. The hydroelectric plant on which Linder worked continues to be the source of electric power in El Cuá and neighboring

San José de Bocay San José de Bocay is a town and a municipality in the Jinotega department, Nicaragua. With an area of 3,990.40 km2, the municipality of San José de Bocay was officially created on March 13, 2002, as a result of the division of the El Cu ...

Geography

El Cuá borders the municipalities of Wiwilí de Nueva Segovia and

to the north, El Tuma-La Dalia and Rancho Grande to the south, Waslala and Siuna to the east, and Santa María de Pantasma and Jinotega to the west. El Cuá contains mountainous areas with abundant vegetation. Altitude is highly variable, ranging from 300 meters above sea level at the Coco River up to 1,745 meters above sea level in the Peñas Blancas massif and Kilambé hill. Numerous rivers continue flowing throughout the year, with high potential for the generation of

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

, and abundant fish and crustacean populations are a part of the local population's diet. Rivers of particularly notable size and length include the Cua, Gusanera, Bocay, and Lakus rivers and the Coco or Segovia river in its upper basin, which marks the border between Nicaragua and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

History

The indigenous population of the area were the Caribiés, later known as the Chontales. Until 1897, El Cuá was the administrative seat of the Bocay District. When the Bocay district was annexed to the department of Jinotega, the municipal territory was unpopulated although the area contained substantial natural resources. The territory of Cua-Bocay was an integral part of the municipality of Jinotega until 1989 when the municipality of Cua Bocay was created, in accordance with the Law of Administrative Political Division issued by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Climate

The area has a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...

, with temperatures ranging between 24º and 25 °C and abundant rainfall between 1,600 and 2,000 mm per year. The

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

lasts approximately eight months and the remainder of the year is the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

Localities

The municipality is divided into three different areas based on physical characteristics: South Zone: El Cuá, made up of 11

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

s and 74 communities. Central Zone: San José de Bocay, made up of 12 comarcas and 63 communities. North Zone: Ayapal, made up of 13 comarcas and 50 communities.

Economy

Agriculture is the principal economic sector. There are approximately 4,000 landowners, mainly small producers with farms smaller than 20 Manzanas (a Manzana in Nicaragua is equivalent to 1.74

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s). Agriculture is the primary means by which families are supported.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:El Cua Municipalities of the Jinotega Department