NICARAGUA

Nicaragua and its people had and still surviving earth quakes and volcanoes in their history. The country itself with its tropical forests, teeming lakes and lush lowland is absolutely beautiful.

Before Columbus or the Spaniards conquered Nicaragua the indigenous people were part of the Intermediate Area. This is between Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. There also came an influence from the Isthmo-Colombian area. It was an area where Mesoamerican and South-American native culture met. 

6000 YEARS' OLD

FOOD PRINT

The confirmation of the knowledge comes from the ancient footprint (see photo) and as well as other archaeological evidence of ceramic and statues made from volcanic stone. They were also from an island of Zapatenra and petroglyples which were found on the Ometepe island.

In the west of Nicaragua several indigenous people belonging to the Mesoamerican were still living by the end of the 15th century. These people were farmers and lived in small kingdoms.

The Chibcha lived in the coastal area and arrive from an area which is now known as Colombia. They were hunters/gatherers. The native people living on the eastern side of Nicaragua have traded and adopted the Caribbean lifestyle such as round thatched huts and canoes. The Chorojega lived in the centre. The two groups were first overran by the Spaniards and mixed with them. The result was mestizos; a race with mixed blood.

However, the Indian population reduced drastically in the next three decades. It was due to the diseases from the Spaniards and ill treatment.

Since the independence from the Spain in 1821, Nicaragua suffered many corrupt rulers which were often back by the US Government.

The Soviet Union supported the Sandinista revolutionaries and with that they won a vicious war in 1979. The new government was a socialist and was backed by the Soviet Union. They distributed the land to the peasants.

The Contras, which were backed by the US, fought against them in 1980. As a matter of fact this was the last battle of the Cold War. In 1989 a ceasefire was declared and in the next election in 1990 the Sandinista lost. The Contras handed in their arms.

Violence still flaring up and Nicaragua still faces all the problems. The unemployment is very high and in the agriculture the output is very low; The country depends on Foreign Aids.

Nicaragua is between Costa Rica in the south and Honduras in the north. The country has a volcanic mountain range and two huge lakes, Managua and Nicaragua , the low-lying tropical forests on the Caribbean coast and the Savannah land on the Pacific side.

The weather is wet and sultry. Most of the country is covered by tropical forest with hardwood trees like mahogany, rosewood and cedar.

The people are mestizos which means they are of mixed blood, Indians and Spanish. A small English-speaking community lives on the remote east-coast and forest dwelling Miskito Indians.

Nicaragua has plenty of fertile land. Farmers grow coffee, sugar cane, cotton. and cattle. These are very important for export which is the country main economy. Due all these wars the land and the economy has suffered badly.