At the time of the Spanish conquest the territory of Nicaragua was sparsely inhabited by tribes belonging to different ethnic groups, coming both from N, and similar to the Maya, as from S, from Colombia like the Chibcha, and allocated, for the best climatic and pedological conditions, in the volcanic region; along the coastal plain of the Antillean Sea, small groups belonging to more primitive Caribbean populations, including the mosquitos, had settled. Most of the Indians have not been able to preserve their cultural heritage and have allowed themselves to be assimilated like the Nahua or niquiranos, the most advanced and powerful Indians, when the Spaniards occupied Nicaragua; only the indomitable mosquitos of the NE coastal strip and other tribes of small numbers have managed to maintain their own identity, such as the sumo, in the northernmost part of the country, the rama along the Rama and Siquia rivers, and the chioca on the coast peaceful. At the beginning of the nineteenth century. the British, who had founded a bogus independent state of the Mosquitos on the Caribbean coast, introduced into Nicaragua, as slaves, Africans for plantation work: in part pure, in part mixed with the Amerindians (zambos), are mostly widespread in the eastern coastal strip and make up 8% of the population. For the rest, the population of Nicaragua is mainly made up of mestizos (63%) or triguenos, as a consequence of the deep intermingling during the colonial era between Amerindians and whites; the pure Indians represent only 5%, but they constitute a very active minority, attached to their own habits and customs and not very inclined to be assimilated to other ethnic groups. The white element forms approx. 14% of the entire population. The demographic increase was very high during the twentieth century, above all due to the net decrease in mortality. It is estimated that the Nicaraguan population at the time of the proclamation of independence in 1821 amounted to approx. 150,000 units, which rose to 500,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1950 the first census conducted with modern techniques ascertained the existence of 1,057,023 residents, Which rose in 1963 to 1,525,483 and an estimated 5,245,000 in 2006. The pace of population growth remains high (20.4 ‰), considering a mortality rate substantially similar to that of the rest of the area (4.5 ‰) and a high birth rate (24.9 ‰) with fertility rates still high, despite being passed in 25 years from 6.3 children per woman (1980) to 3.1 (2005). The social situation of Nicaragua, subject to natural disasters and hit for years by a state of civil war, highlights the gaps that still need to be filled to reach the level of more advanced countries: infant mortality, despite having suffered a drastic decline., has high values, more than half of the population is under the age of 18, a third of children have some degree of malnutrition and in some areas conditions of extreme poverty are reported, especially in the eastern departments where Afro-Caribbean people live. According to ehotelat, Nicaragua is a country in Central America. The average density value (41 residents/km²) is far from reflecting the real distribution of the population: over 50% of the residents live, in fact, in the area between the Great Depression and the Pacific Ocean, which corresponds to less 20% of the entire territory; therefore, the density of 9-11 residents / km² in the eastern departments is increased to a density of 364 residents / km² for the department of Managua and 475 residents / km² for that of Masaya. Over 44% of the population is rural even if the phenomenon of urbanization is on the rise, fueled by internal migration mechanisms, especially from the overpopulated rural regions of the Pacific and from the countryside of Managua, where farmers suffer from the low yield of land in the areas. arid. The migratory balance is negative: it was only at the end of the 1990s that the number of Nicaraguans refugees and asylum seekers in other states, which was around 20,000 per year, declined, reaching less than 1,500 in 2005. The main countries of entry were Costa Rica during the period of greatest emigration and, to a lesser extent, the United States and Guatemala. The only major economic, political and administrative center is the capital, Managua, already an important Indian city but decayed in colonial times, in practice resurrected after 1855 when it was chosen as the new capital; since then Managua has progressively developed both from an economic and an industrial point of view, despite the deleterious proximity of the Masaya volcano, which afflicts it with frequent earthquakes. XX it was hit by a strong earthquake a first time in 1931 and a second time in 1972 with thousands of victims. The other main cities of the country include, all in the western belt, León, which was the capital until 1855 and which is still the main cultural center, Granada, known at the Spanish time as the “pearl of Central America” and for the its riches repeatedly raided by pirates, Masaya and Chinandega. The major centers on the eastern highlands are Jinotega and Matagalpa; modest commercial outlets are found on the coasts, including Bluefields and Puerto Cabezas on the Caribbean, Corinth on the Pacific.
