El Ayote is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region The South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It was created along with the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region by the Autonomy Statute of 7 September 1987 through a division of the former Zelay ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. The population is 5,406.

Geography

El Ayote is located at a distance of 162 kilometers from the capital,

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

. To the north it borders the municipality of Paiwas, to the south with the municipality of El Rama, to the east with the municipalities of El Tortuguero and El Rama, and to the west with the municipalities of

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, La Libertad, and Camoapa.

History

El Ayote is one of Nicaragua's youngest municipalities. It was officially founded in April 2000. Until then, it was part of the municipality of El Rama, which, due to communication difficulties due to distance, poor communication routes, and the absence of proper means of transport, functioned as a delegation of the mayoralty. In the unofficial history, orally told by the town's first settlers, the municipality was born as a settlement of a group of people from 25 families, who lived in the La Piñuela area. Among these families were the Zeledón family, Sotelo family, Arróliga family, Méndez family, Leiva family, Gaitán family, among others. Before it was populated, it was a mountain port with a military base of the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, commanded by Major Francisco Javier Hidalgo, who was in charge of moving the families that were in La Piñuela to El Ayote because they were threatened by the irregular army of the Contras during the

Contra War The Nicaraguan Revolution () began with rising opposition to the Somoza family, Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The ...

. As the town grew, on weekends, people from the regions would come in large numbers to buy the necessary products that traders brought from different cities of the country. In 1990, it was selected as the IV Enclave for the demobilization of the irregular forces that were fighting in this area. The population grew rapidly as many demobilized soldiers decided to stay in the territory, received land in the Development Policy that was created or simply took a piece of mountain, and made a farm and family.

Demographics

El Ayote has a current population of 20,013 inhabitants. Of the total population, 50.3% are men and 49.7% are women. Almost 42.7% of the population lives in the urban area.

Nature and Climate

The rainy season is hot, oppressive, and cloudy, and the dry season is very hot, muggy, windy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature generally varies from 18 to 32 °C and rarely falls below 16 °C or rises above 34 °C. The municipality's topography is formed by natural accidents that are part of the central mountainous shield formed by vulcanism, which has the Amerrisque mountain range as its main feature. The average annual precipitation ranges between 2000 and 2450 mm, dry enough for livestock activity, although the municipality is surrounded by tropical humid forest.

Localities

It is subdivided into the urban center and 23 rural communities: Las Parras, Jobo, La Cusuca, Jobito, Santa Isabel, Banco de Siquia, La Danta, La Piñuela, Las Cañas, Nawawas, El Bambú, Nawawasito, Lajerito, Kurinwasito, La Chancha, Cerro Grande, Nueva Luz, Calderón, Nueva Unión, El Cacao, El Guayabo, and Pilán.

Economy

Cattle farming is the main productive and economic activity of the municipality, although pig farming is also important; agriculture is practiced on a small scale with bean cultivation on alluvial soils and with poor productive results. It is very orthodox, with cattle raised extensively and agricultural production carried out with little to no fertilization. Since the 1990s, commerce has flourished in the municipal capital, which, due to its accessible location, serves as a meeting point for intermediaries and producers from the municipality and neighboring municipalities. From El Ayote, agro-livestock products are transported by paved road to national markets, and producers take advantage of these departures to purchase products such as footwear, clothing, medicines, veterinary goods, and other industrial products.

Culture

One of the few local traditions is the annual celebration of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

on March 19.

References

Municipalities of the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region {{Nicaragua-geo-stub