Nicaraguans

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For a specific analysis of the population of Nicaragua, see Demographics of Nicaragua.
Nicaraguans
Nicaragüenses
Roman Catholic and Protestant; irreligious and other religious minorities exist[2]
Related ethnic groups

Nicaraguans (Spanish: Nicaragüenses; also called Nicas) are people inhabiting in, originating or having significant heritage from Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans live in Nicaragua, although there is also a significant Nicaraguan diaspora, particularly in Costa Rica and the United States with smaller communities in other countries around the world. There are also people living in Nicaragua who are not Nicaraguans because they were not born or raised in Nicaragua nor have they gained citizenship.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Nicaragua

Population

Nicaraguan boys

As of 2023, Nicaragua's total human population reached 7.0 million, with the capital (and most populous) city of Managua containing 1.5 million.

According to the

population growth rate of 1.31% (during the period 2005–2010) and a birth rate of 24.9 / 1,000 population (2005–2010), third highest in the region. The life expectancy
for Nicaraguans at birth is (2005–2015) 74.45 years; 70.9 for males and 78.0 for females.

Ethnic groups
Group Number
Mestizo (41%) 3,158,328
White (17%) 1,670,557
Black (9%) 567,777
Indigenous (33%) 2,283,888
Source: CIA World Factbook (2007)

Ethnic groups

Data from the

White
make up the majority of Nicaraguans and mainly reside in the western region of the country, combined they make up 88% and of the total population.

About 5% of Nicaraguans are descending from one or more of the country's indigenous peoples. Nicaragua's

Chibcha-related groups that had migrated from South America, primarily what is today Colombia and Venezuela. These groups include the present-day Miskitos, Ramas and Mayangna. In the 19th century, there was a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the mestizo majority. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya Department
into two autonomous regions and granted the Indigenous people of this region limited self-rule.

The remainder 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean (or Atlantic) coast. The black population is mostly of

Arawak
descent.

Immigration

Nicaraguan women at a concert in Managua.

Relative to its overall population, Nicaragua has never experienced any large scale wave of

immigrants. The total number of immigrants to Nicaragua, both originating from other Latin American countries and all other countries, never surpassed 1% of its total population prior to 1995. The 2005 census showed the foreign-born population at 1.2%, having risen a mere .06% in 10 years.[3]
This is not to say that immigrants were not important to the evolution of Nicaraguan society and the Nicaraguan nation.

The founding members of the Deutsche Club in Nicaragua

In the 19th century Nicaragua experienced a wave of immigration, primarily from Europe. In particular, families from Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Belgium generally moved to Nicaragua to start a new life. They received free land, monetary incentives, and other perks in exchange for populating unsettled territories and working in the new growing coffee industry. In time immigrants were able to set up newspapers, hotels and banks.

There is also a small

Chinese Nicaraguan population is estimated at 12,000.[citation needed
] The Chinese arrived in the late 19th century but were unsubstantiated until the second census (in 1920) revealed 400 people of the Chinese nationality.

Nicaraguans abroad

Nicaragua, as well as other Latin American countries, have a long history of migration to the United States. However, Nicaragua is the only country in its region to have Costa Rica as the primary destination. Estimates on the basis of the Nicaraguan Health Survey indicated that at least 11% of Nicaraguan households have at least 1 person residing abroad.[4]

Smaller numbers of Nicaraguans live in many other countries around the world such as other countries in

China and Taiwan
among others.

Nicaraguans in Costa Rica

Nicaraguan migration to Costa Rica has occurred since the mid-19th century. Unlike other Latin American countries, Nicaraguan migrants' primary destination is not the United States, it is Costa Rica. An estimate 9% (more than 385,899) of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans;[5] some of them migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country. Costa Rica and Nicaragua signed an agreement regulating seasonal migration in 1998; it allows Nicaraguans with work permits to enter Costa Rica at the western border at Peñas Blancas on the Pan-American Highway. In the northern part of Costa Rica there are 287,766 Nicaraguans and the Catholic Church in this area has an active program to protect the rights of migrant workers.[6]

Nicaraguans in the United States

Main article: Nicaraguan Americans
J Smooth and Miss Nicaragua 2007, Xiomara Blandino celebrating La Feria Agostina, or the Nicaraguan Festival, in Los Angeles with up to 8,000 Nicaraguan Americans.

Abroad, the United States is home to the second largest number of Nicaraguans outside Nicaragua, particularly in the

Miami area. The estimated number of Nicaraguan Americans in the United States was 281,167 in 2006, up from 177,684 in 2000.[7]

The earliest documents of immigration from Nicaragua to the United States was combined in total with those of other

U.S. Census Bureau some 7,500 Nicaraguans legally immigrated from 1967 to 1976. An estimated 28,620 Nicaraguans were living in the U.S. in 1970, 90% of which self-reported as "white" on the 1970 census. Most Nicaraguan immigrants during the late 1960s were women: there were only 60 male Nicaraguan immigrants for every 100 female immigrants during this period.[8] In 1998 more than two million Nicaraguans were left homeless due to hurricane Mitch, as a result many Nicaraguans received permanent residence or temporary protected status (TPS) in the late 1990s.[9]

According to the

white-collar workers than nonmigrants. In addition, emigrants were more likely to come from larger premigration households and higher income households.[11]

Areas of greatest concentration in the United States

The largest concentration of Nicaraguan Americans in the United States, about 79,559, is in Miami, Florida, most notably around the areas of Sweetwater and "Little Managua". Sweetwater has the highest concentration of Nicaraguan American in the United States, in 2000 16.63% of Sweetwater residents identified as being of Nicaraguan heritage. This was the highest percentage of Nicaraguan Americans of any place in the country. As a result, Sweetwater is locally known as "Little Managua" after Managua, the Nicaraguan capital. However, the area of "Little Havana" in Miami is also colloquially called "Little Managua" even though Sweetwater has a higher number of Nicaraguan Americans.

Los Angeles and San Francisco. The number of Nicaraguan Americans living in California was 51,336 in 2000.[12]

History

Main article: History of Nicaragua
2,100-year-old human footprints preserved in volcanic mud near Lake Managua, which are known as the Ancient footprints of Acahualinca.

It is known that Nicaragua was inhabited by

Sumos who lived a less sedentary life based on hunting and gathering, as well as fishing and performing slash-and-burn agriculture.[13][14]

During the 1979 uprising, many middle-class and wealthy families left Nicaragua. The

Sandinista revolution during the 1980s brought a wave of Nicaraguan refugees into the U.S.,[15] and the largest wave of documented immigrants. Many Nicaraguans also fled to nearby Costa Rica and other countries. Over 62 percent of the total documented immigration from 1979 to 1988 occurred after 1984.[11]

Many Nicaraguans who immigrated did so to escape poverty, in

Sandinistas in 1979.[16]

Culture and traditions

Main article: Culture of Nicaragua
See also:
Literature of Nicaragua, Music of Nicaragua, and Religion in Nicaragua

British possessions, such as Jamaica, Belize, The Cayman Islands, and the Mosquito Coast of Honduras.[17]
The indigenous groups that were present in the Pacific coast have largely been assimilated into the mestizo culture, however, the indigenous people of the Caribbean coast have maintained a distinct identity.

Garifuna community exists in Nicaragua, known for its popular music called Punta
.

Celebrating the annual "Alegria por la vida" Carnaval in Managua, Nicaragua

pre-Columbian times with the myths and oral literature that formed the cosmogonic view of the world that indigenous people had. Some of these stories are still know in Nicaragua. Like many Latin American countries, the Spanish conquerors have had the most effect on both the culture and the literature. Nicaraguan literature has historically been an important source of poetry in the Spanish-speaking world, with internationally renowned contributors such as Rubén Darío who is regarded as the most important literary figure in Nicaragua, referred to as the "Father of Modernism" for leading the modernismo literary movement at the end of the 19th century.[18] Other literary figures include Ernesto Cardenal, Gioconda Belli, Claribel Alegría and José Coronel Urtecho
, among others.

El Güegüense is a satirical drama and was the first literary work of pre-Columbian Nicaragua. It is regarded as one of Latin America's most distinctive colonial-era expressions and as Nicaragua's signature folkloric masterpiece combining music, dance and theater.[18] The theatrical play was written by an anonymous author in the 16th century, making it one of the oldest indigenous theatrical/dance works of the Western Hemisphere.[19] The story was published in a book in 1942 after many centuries.[20]

Language

Main articles: Languages of Nicaragua, Nicaraguan Spanish, and Central American Spanish
A sign in Bluefields in English (top), Spanish (middle) and Miskito (bottom).
An English speaking creole from Bluefields.

Spanish is spoken by about 90% of the country's population. In Nicaragua the

Chinese Nicaraguans and Palestinian Nicaraguans, have maintained their ancestral languages, which are minority languages, while also speaking Spanish and/or English. These minority languages include Chinese, Arabic, Italian, and German, among others.[22]

The language and pronunciation varies depending on region. Some Nicaraguans pronounce the word vos with a strong s sound at the end. In the central part of the country, regions like Boaco pronounce vos without the s sound at the end. The result is vo, similar to vous in French and voi in Italian.

Nicaragua has a total of 4

linguists
.

Symbols

Main article: National symbols of Nicaragua
The flag of Nicaragua

The flag of Nicaragua was adopted on August 27, 1971. It is based on the flag of the United States of Central America. The two blue stripes represented the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean; while white symbolizes peace. A modern interpretation indicates that the color blue symbolizes justice and loyalty; while the color white represents virtue and purity. The coat of arms features an equilateral triangle which represents equality. Inside the triangle are five volcanoes, which represent the five members of the federation. The triangle also contains symbols of liberty and peace which is represented by a red Phrygian cap, white rays and a rainbow.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "Nicaragua - Emigrantes totales". expansion.com/ Datosmacro.com (in Spanish).
  2. ^ The Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program / Programa Latinoamericano de Estudios Sociorreligiosos (PROLADES) PROLADES Religion in America by country
  3. ^ "VIII Censo de Poblacion y IV de Vivienda" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (in Spanish). October 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  4. ^ Vargas, Juan Carlos. "Nicaraguans in Costa Rica and the United States: Data from Ethnic Surveys". California Center for Population Research. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  5. ^ "Background Note: Costa Rica; People". U.S. State Department. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  6. ^ "Best Practices Concerning Migrant Workers and their Families" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  7. ^ "2005 American Community Survey". U.S. Census Bureau, 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  8. ^ Orlov, Ann; Reed Veda (1980). "Central and South Americans," Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Harvard University Press. pp. 210–217.
  9. ^ a b "Context for Nicaraguan Immigration". Archived from the original on 2007-05-20. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  10. ^ "1990 U.S. Census". U.S. Census Bureau. 1990. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  11. ^ a b Funkhouser, Edward (1992). Migration from Nicaragua: Some Recent Evidence. p. 1210. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights: Nicaraguans". U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Retrieved 2007-05-24.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Nicaragua: VI History". Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  14. ISBN 0520060490
    .
  15. ^ H. Lundquist, Jennifer; Douglas S. Massey (2005). The Contra War and Nicaraguan Migration to the United States. pp. 29–53. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  16. ISBN 0-415-91768-9
    .
  17. ^ Warantz 1983, p. 71.
  18. ^ a b "Showcasing Nicaragua's Folkloric Masterpiece - El Gueguense - and Other Performing and Visual Arts". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  19. ^ "Native Theatre: El Gueguense". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  20. ^ "El Güegüense o Macho Ratón". ViaNica. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  21. ^ "Languages of Nicaragua". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  22. ^ "Colegio Aleman Nicaraguense".

Warantz, Elissa (1983). "The Bay Islands English of Honduras". In

ISBN 3-87276-295-8
.

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