El Realejo 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

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 ...

department of

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 ...

History

The town of El Realejo was constructed in 1532, during the first years of Spanish colonization. During this period it served as Nicaragua's principal port, and remained so until the beginning of the 17th century, when

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

attacks started to threaten the town's commercial life-line. The importance of El Realejo was further diminished by the construction of Corinto, which came to be Nicaragua's new principal port. In 1845 a shipment of weapons for the government in León was seized by the invading forces of Francisco Malespín during the '' Guerra de Malespín''.

Economy

Today, the economy is based on agriculture, fishing, and the raising of animals. El Realejo is characterized by open expanses of tropical savannah that give way to mountains and beaches.

References

Municipalities of the Chinandega Department 1532 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places established in 1532 {{Nicaragua-geo-stub