Nicaragua

By: Allie Cook [[image:http://www.schmidt-eisenlohr.com/Images/mapNicaragua.gif width="302" height="305" align="center"]] Geography & Climate:

 * With a population of 5,785,846 people and a total area of 129,494 sq km, Nicaragua is, in area, the largest country in Central America, but also has the least amount of inhabitants. Nicaragua shares a border with Costa Rica in the south and Honduras to the north. The climate varies between tropical lowlands down to a much cooler highlands. Like most tropical, Central American countries, there are two very distinct seasons: dry and raining. The raining season lasts from June- January and the landscape becomes beautifully green and lush. Between August and September it rains everyday and usually in just one gigantic downpour. Although it rains, the temperatures still stay in the 70s and 80s and there are much more insects and bugs out. During the dry season the landscape looks drastically different, dry, and all the plants turn yellow. Nicaragua is also home to the largest freshwater lake in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua. The Capital, Managua, is located in the west, central part of the country and is on the south end of Lake Managua. **

History- Present Day:
Nicaragua was first settled as a Spanish colony in the early 16th century. After gaining independence form Spain in 1821, Nicaragua became an independent republic in 1838. Throughout the 1970s rebel groups started violent opposition to government manipulation which started corruption of social classes. This escalated to a short civil war, bringing the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power. In the decades to follow, dictators ruled the country and there was widespread poverty and problems. In 1990, free elections were established and the Sandinistas were defeated and put out of power. Nicaraguans have been making progress since, but still have one of the highest degrees of income inequality in the world and the 3rd lowest per capita income in the Western hemisphere. Due to this, there is widespread unemployment and poverty all over the country still. The country relies on the US and other countries for economic help. Within Nicaragua over half the money comes from services such as tourism, some comes from industries, and the rest from agriculture. The main crops grown in Nicaragua are coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, and beans.

Language:
The official language in Nicaragua is Spanish, but many more indigenous languages are spoken. Nicaraguans call their vernacular Nicañol, meaning Nicaraguan Spanish. Nicañol has many interesting dialect features including the use of ‘vos’ for the second-person singular pronoun instead of ‘tu’. Nicaraguans grow up using ‘vos’ when talking with friends and family, but learn the use of ‘tu’ in grade school. They still however continue to speak with ‘vos’ in social situations and informal situations. Another lexical aspect they are likely to say is ‘don’ or ‘doña’ replacing ‘sr’ and ‘sra’ in formal situations. The dialect features are not directly coinciding with either tierras bajas or tierras altas. Nicaraguans aspirate their ‘s’. In urban areas the tone tends to be more lineal by the elision of consonants, but in rural areas people tend to innonciate all syllables. Along with these differences Nicaraguan speech is also full of spicy language and word choice. All people like to use sharp vocabulary and off-color jokes that might not be appropriate elsewhere. For example at the end of a national anthem the words " Long live Leon, jodido!" Jodido means and is taken from the root, to screw, which is normally not socially acceptable to shout. Also, many words have been taken from indigenous Indian languages and while the United States was occupying Nicaragua, words were borrowed from English as well.

Here is a sample of a [|speaker]from Managua, Nicaragua, Michael.

**Religion and Festivals: **


Nicaragua is 58% Roman Catholic, 21% Evangelical, and close to 15% report to practicing no religion. Since more than half the country is Catholic Nicaraguans put on festivities honoring patron saints every year. Unlike Mexico's celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, the biggest celebration in Micaragua is for the Immaculate Conception of Mary, or La Purisima. It is a week-long celebration starting December 8 and even out shadows Christmas. During the week altars to the Virgin Mary are put up and decorated in homes and workplaces. Then, people from all over, especially children, go from altar to altar singing songs and reciting prayers. For a reward they receive small gifts which usually consist or candy or bits of sugar cane.

Food:
The cuisine of Nicaragua is also an important and rich aspect of the culture. Similar to Mexico, Nicaraguans also eat tortillas but they are large, thin, and made from white corn. Tortillas are filled with meat or beans and other produce. Beans are one food that is extremely important because it is more readily available and cheaper than other forms of protein such as beef. One famous dish is gallo pinto, which is refried beans and rice and is eaten by everyone no matter what class ranking. Nicaraguans also enjoy eating tamales but they have their own special spin on the dish. They use a leaf from a banana-like plant instead of a corn husk and is filled with rice, tomatoes, potatoes, chili, cassava root, and occasionally meat. One traditional dish is vaho. Vaho is made with salted meat and vegetables layered over the same banana-like leaves. Typically Nicaraguan food isn't very hot there is usually a sauce callled salsa de chile that many add to spice up food. The preferred nonalcoholic beverage is coffee and the best is made in the high county near Matagalpa. Those that can afford, drink their coffee with milk at breakfast and black with sugar during the day. Nicaraguans also make alcoholic drinks such as beer and chicha which is more traditional and made from fermented corn mash.

References: 1. Walker, Thomas W. __Nicaragua: The Land of Sadino__. San Francisco, CA: Westview P, 1991. 2. Vilas, Carlos M. __State, Class & Ethnicity in Nicaragua__. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. 3. "CIA-World Factbook-- Nicaragua." __The World Factbook__. 4 Dec. 2008. Central Intelligence Agency. 6 Dec. 2008 . 4. "Explore Nicaragua Languages." __Nicaragua.com__. 1995. The Nicaragua Channel. 8 Dec. 2008 .