The People
The people of Nicaragua are warm and generous which is surprising to many due to the media’s constantly replayed images of their war-torn past. There are many stories of expatriates or tourists having vehicle problems or other issues in the middle of nowhere and having a local Nica family with little or nothing offering their home, food and assistance.
One of our own experiences was when a Canadian expat developed severe medical problems during the night and was just able to crawl to a neighboring Nica’s home. The family and neighbors put her in their own bed, nursed her all night and notified us in the morning. We immediately put her in the hospital but she would have died were it not for the intervention of her Nica neighbors.
Language is an issue here since there are so few people in Nicaragua that speak some English though this is slowly changing. Nicaragua has the least amount of residents that speak English in Central and South America. Those few that speak English tend to migrate to the capital city of Managua or seek employment within the tourist business. Expats should plan to learn at least the basics of Spanish and besides, it shows respect for the local culture.
Nicaragua has a population of 5,891,199 (July 2009 est.), an increase of 35% on the 1995 census figure of 4,357,099.
Nicaraguans of European or mixed European and indigenous stock (mestizos) make up a combined 86% of the population, with about 69% being mestizos and 17% being of European descent (mostly Spanish, German, Italian and French).
In the nineteenth century, there had been a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the Hispanic mainstream. Primarily in the 19th century, Nicaragua saw several waves of immigration from other European nations. In particular the northern cities of Esteli and Matagalpa have significant 4th generation German communities. Most of the Mestizo and European descent population live in the western regions of the country as in the cities of Managua, Granada and Leon.
About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or afronicaraguan, and mainly resides in the country's sparsely populated eastern or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured labourers brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. Nicaragua has the second largest black population in Central America after Panama. There is also a smaller number of Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent.
The remaining 5% is comprised of the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Colombian population consisted of the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west after whom the country is named, and six other ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos along the Caribbean coast. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya - consisting of the eastern half of the country - into two autonomous regions and granted the African and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule within the Republic.
There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese people of almost 8,000. These minorities speak Spanish while maintaining their ancestral languages as well.
The language breakdown is Spanish 97.5% (official language), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census). Nicaraguans speak standard Iberoamerican Spanish with some similarities to Galician Spanish—structurally similar to Argentinian Spanish which uses "vos" instead of "tu" along with the "vos" conjugation but with a different intonation. Spanish has two forms for addressing a person--usted (formal) and tú (informal). However, in Nicaragua vos (pronounced in Nicaragua as “bo”) is used instead of tú. The verb form used with vos is formed by changing the r at the end of a verb infinitive to s and adding an accent to the last syllable. This form is seldom taught because it is considered a colloquial form; used only in Central America and some parts of South America (Argentina and Uruguay). It is not found in most Spanish textbooks.
The black population of the east coast region has English as its first language. Several indigenous peoples of the east still use their original languages.
Roman Catholicism is the major religion, but evangelical Protestant groups have grown recently, and there are strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast. The breakdown is Roman Catholic about 49%, Evangelical 31.6%, Moravian 1.6%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 1.7%, none 15.7% (2014). The Catholic traditions are much more prevalent here than in the states with much more emphasis on the Virgin Mary and there are more celebrated saints than I ever knew existed.
90% of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban. An estimated 2 million Nicaraguans live outside of Nicaragua.
The population of Nicaragua is very young with approx. 50% under 18 years of age. The country has strong folklore, music and religious traditions, largely founded on European (Iberian Peninsula) culture but enriched with Amerindian sounds and flavours. Nicaragua has historically been an important source of poetry in the Hispanic world, with internationally renowned contributors such as Ruben Dario (see his biography under Nicaragua Topics).
Education is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory, and communities located on the Atlantic Coast have access to education in their native language. Also, freedom of subjects is recognized. Having said that, the reality is that a high percentage do not finish grade school and high schools in the rural areas are not as common as they need to be. The government recently announced that illiteracy had been abolished in Nicaragua (July 2009) but with the definition of literacy being age 15 and over able to read and write, only 67.5% of the population qualifies.
Nicaraguan culture can further be defined in several distinct strands. The west of the country was colonized by Spain and its people are mostly Mestizos and European in composition; Spanish is invariably their first language.
The eastern half of the country, on the other hand, was once a British protectorate. English is still predominant in this region and spoken domestically along with Spanish which is formally taught in schools. Its culture is somewhat similar to Caribbean nations, although recent immigration by mestizos has largely influenced younger generations and an increasing number of people are either bilingual at home or speak Spanish only.
There is a large population of people of mixed African descent, as well as a smaller Garifuna population. Due to the African influence, in the East Coast, there is a different kind of music. One of the most popular dance music is El Palo de Mayo, or The May Pole, which is celebrated during the May Pole Festival, in May. The music is sensual with intense rhythms. Of the cultures that were present before European colonization, the Nahuatl-speaking peoples who populated the west of the country have essentially been assimilated into the latino culture. In the east, however, several indigenous groups have maintained a distinct identity. The Sumos and Ramas people still use their original languages.
One of our own experiences was when a Canadian expat developed severe medical problems during the night and was just able to crawl to a neighboring Nica’s home. The family and neighbors put her in their own bed, nursed her all night and notified us in the morning. We immediately put her in the hospital but she would have died were it not for the intervention of her Nica neighbors.
Language is an issue here since there are so few people in Nicaragua that speak some English though this is slowly changing. Nicaragua has the least amount of residents that speak English in Central and South America. Those few that speak English tend to migrate to the capital city of Managua or seek employment within the tourist business. Expats should plan to learn at least the basics of Spanish and besides, it shows respect for the local culture.
Nicaragua has a population of 5,891,199 (July 2009 est.), an increase of 35% on the 1995 census figure of 4,357,099.
Nicaraguans of European or mixed European and indigenous stock (mestizos) make up a combined 86% of the population, with about 69% being mestizos and 17% being of European descent (mostly Spanish, German, Italian and French).
In the nineteenth century, there had been a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the Hispanic mainstream. Primarily in the 19th century, Nicaragua saw several waves of immigration from other European nations. In particular the northern cities of Esteli and Matagalpa have significant 4th generation German communities. Most of the Mestizo and European descent population live in the western regions of the country as in the cities of Managua, Granada and Leon.
About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or afronicaraguan, and mainly resides in the country's sparsely populated eastern or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured labourers brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. Nicaragua has the second largest black population in Central America after Panama. There is also a smaller number of Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent.
The remaining 5% is comprised of the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Colombian population consisted of the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west after whom the country is named, and six other ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos along the Caribbean coast. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya - consisting of the eastern half of the country - into two autonomous regions and granted the African and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule within the Republic.
There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese people of almost 8,000. These minorities speak Spanish while maintaining their ancestral languages as well.
The language breakdown is Spanish 97.5% (official language), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census). Nicaraguans speak standard Iberoamerican Spanish with some similarities to Galician Spanish—structurally similar to Argentinian Spanish which uses "vos" instead of "tu" along with the "vos" conjugation but with a different intonation. Spanish has two forms for addressing a person--usted (formal) and tú (informal). However, in Nicaragua vos (pronounced in Nicaragua as “bo”) is used instead of tú. The verb form used with vos is formed by changing the r at the end of a verb infinitive to s and adding an accent to the last syllable. This form is seldom taught because it is considered a colloquial form; used only in Central America and some parts of South America (Argentina and Uruguay). It is not found in most Spanish textbooks.
The black population of the east coast region has English as its first language. Several indigenous peoples of the east still use their original languages.
Roman Catholicism is the major religion, but evangelical Protestant groups have grown recently, and there are strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast. The breakdown is Roman Catholic about 49%, Evangelical 31.6%, Moravian 1.6%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 1.7%, none 15.7% (2014). The Catholic traditions are much more prevalent here than in the states with much more emphasis on the Virgin Mary and there are more celebrated saints than I ever knew existed.
90% of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban. An estimated 2 million Nicaraguans live outside of Nicaragua.
The population of Nicaragua is very young with approx. 50% under 18 years of age. The country has strong folklore, music and religious traditions, largely founded on European (Iberian Peninsula) culture but enriched with Amerindian sounds and flavours. Nicaragua has historically been an important source of poetry in the Hispanic world, with internationally renowned contributors such as Ruben Dario (see his biography under Nicaragua Topics).
Education is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory, and communities located on the Atlantic Coast have access to education in their native language. Also, freedom of subjects is recognized. Having said that, the reality is that a high percentage do not finish grade school and high schools in the rural areas are not as common as they need to be. The government recently announced that illiteracy had been abolished in Nicaragua (July 2009) but with the definition of literacy being age 15 and over able to read and write, only 67.5% of the population qualifies.
Nicaraguan culture can further be defined in several distinct strands. The west of the country was colonized by Spain and its people are mostly Mestizos and European in composition; Spanish is invariably their first language.
The eastern half of the country, on the other hand, was once a British protectorate. English is still predominant in this region and spoken domestically along with Spanish which is formally taught in schools. Its culture is somewhat similar to Caribbean nations, although recent immigration by mestizos has largely influenced younger generations and an increasing number of people are either bilingual at home or speak Spanish only.
There is a large population of people of mixed African descent, as well as a smaller Garifuna population. Due to the African influence, in the East Coast, there is a different kind of music. One of the most popular dance music is El Palo de Mayo, or The May Pole, which is celebrated during the May Pole Festival, in May. The music is sensual with intense rhythms. Of the cultures that were present before European colonization, the Nahuatl-speaking peoples who populated the west of the country have essentially been assimilated into the latino culture. In the east, however, several indigenous groups have maintained a distinct identity. The Sumos and Ramas people still use their original languages.