Corinto is a town, with a population of 18,552 (2021 estimate), on the northwest Pacific coast of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...

in the province of

Chinandega Chinandega () is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's 2nd most important city (economy) and 6th largest ci ...

. The municipality was founded in 1863.

History

Early years

The town of Corinto was founded in 1849. It first came into prominence as a port in 1863, due to its spacious and sheltered harbour. It superseded El Realejo, which was from 1550 to 1850 the principal seaport of Nicaragua but became partly filled with sandbanks.

British occupation

When Nicaragua refused to pay Britain an indemnity for the annexation of the Mosquito Reserve, the British responded by occupying the Nicaraguan Pacific port of Corinto on 27 April 1895. Eventually the British left after being paid indemnities by the Nicaraguan government.

United States intervention

Corinto, Nicaragua, Memories of Nicaragua (front of postcard)

On May 2, 1896, U.S. Marines landed in Corinto to protect American interests during political unrest. In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed the African-American writer

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

U.S. Consul to Corinto. On January 25, 1922, the USS ''Galveston'' landed a detachment of U.S. Marines at Corinto, to reinforce the

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicar ...

legation guard during a period of political tension. While supporting the Contra war against the Sandinista government in the 1980s, U.S. Forces mined the Port of Corinto. On October 10, 1983, an attack destroyed of fuel. It is believed that this attack was directed by the CIA and carried out by U.S. Navy Seals.

Economy

Corinto was a railroad terminus and is

's largest and only Pacific port for the import and export of goods. It has a

container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

and is able to manage a wide variety of

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tra ...

: liquid, bulk, containers, cars, etc.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Corinto is twinned with: *

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

, Germany *

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany *

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, United Kingdom *

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, United States

References

External links

* http://corinto.sozac.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20120313061011/http://corintounido.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20061021232053/http://www.epn.com.ni/corinto.php * http://www.portalcorinto.com (informational site in Spanish).
Corinto Photos
* https://www.facebook.com/groups/CorintoChinandegaOfficial/
Picture of Isla El Cardon Lighthouse
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q60220118 Municipalities of the Chinandega Department Lighthouses in Nicaragua