Nueva Segovia () is a department in

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 ...

. It covers an area of 3,491 km² and has a population of 275,291 (2021 estimate). Nueva Segovia is also home to the indigenous Chorotegas and

Nahuas The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

. The capital is

Ocotal Ocotal () is the capital of the Nueva Segovia Department in Nicaragua, Central America and the municipal seat of Ocotal Municipality. History The region occupied by the city of Ocotal was formerly occupied by different ethnic groups that had prob ...

History of Las Segovias

''Las Segovias'' is a region encompassed by the five departments of northern Nicaragua:

Estelí Estelí (), officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and Municipalities of Nicaragua, municipality within the Estelí Department, Estelí department. It is the 8th largest city in Nicaragua due to the high urbanization of its ...

Jinotega Jinotega () (derived from Náhuatl: ''Xiotenko'' ‘place next to the jiñocuajo trees’) is the capital city of the Department of Jinotega in north-central Nicaragua. The city is located in a long valley surrounded by the cool climate and Da ...

, Madriz,

Matagalpa Matagalpa () is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 112,697 (2022 estimate), while the population of the department is 606,643. Matagalpa is Nicaragua's seventh largest city, the ...

, and Nueva Segovia. The natural boundaries, are bordered on the north by the mountains around Dipilto, Jalapa and Mozonte, which extend to the

Coco River The Wangki river in Miskitu or Río Coco, in Spanish, formerly known as the Río Segovia, Cape River, or Yara River, is a river located on the border of northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras. It is the longest river that runs entirely within t ...

. On the southern border, the area is bounded by the mountains around the towns of La Trinidad and San Nicolás, which sweep downward to the valleys between

Sébaco Sébaco is a town and a Municipalities of Nicaragua, municipality in the Matagalpa (department), Matagalpa Departments of Nicaragua, department of Nicaragua. Situated at the junction of the Pan-American Highway and the Rio Grande de Matagalpa, S� ...

and El Sauce. Towards the east the river valleys bordering La Concordia,

, San Sebastián de Yalí and Wiwilí de Jinotega form the demarcations of the natural boundary. Finally, on the west the boundary extends from the slope of a mountainous triangle which extends to the

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

adjacent to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

encompassing

San José de Cusmapa San José de Cusmapa is a municipality in the Madriz 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 ...

, and

San Juan de Limay San Juan de Limay is a municipality in the Estelí department of Nicaragua. It is famous for its artisan production of soapstone (marmolina) sculptures. San Juan de Limay is located 195 km north of Managua in the north of Nicaragua only a s ...

. In pre-Columbian times the region was inhabited by Native American people known as Mayangnas and

s. Later arrivals include the

Nahua The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

from Mexico and the Chorotega peoples from Cholula. One of the first regions of Nicaragua to be colonized by the Spaniards, the

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

established the city of ''Vieja'' and later ''Antigua'', to implement the ''Corregimiento'' system over the indigenous inhabitants. The ''corregidor'' served as a type of mayor to administrate a district, exploiting the local populations to mine gold and other minerals for Spain. The Spanish period decimated the indigenous population reducing its numbers from estimates of 75,000 people to 4,500 at the end of their occupation. After gaining its independence, Nicaragua drafted the Constitution of 1858, which established seven departments: Chinandega, Chontales, Granada, León, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, and Rivas. The Department of Jinotega was created from Matagalpa in 1892. Simultaneously, the Estelí Department was created from Nueva Segovia. Nueva Segovia was further divided in 1936 with the creation of the Madriz Department. In 1926, during the

United States occupation of Nicaragua The United States occupation of Nicaragua from August 4, 1912, to January 2, 1933, was part of the Banana Wars, when the U.S. military invaded various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934. The formal occupation began on August 4, 1912, ...

''Las Segovias'' became the center of the

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

led by

Augusto César Sandino Augusto César Sandino (; 18 May 1895 21 February 1934), full name Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary, founder of the militant group EDSN, and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United Sta ...

, who established a network of espionage agents and collaborators from the local population. In 1933, during the negotiations for peace in the region, Sandino asked newly elected president Juan Bautista Sacasa to create a large autonomous department covering the area of ''Las Segovias''. Sandino's plan would have allowed him to administer the department and manage the civilian and military authorities. The government rejected the plan, giving the rebels only a small colony on the banks of the Coco River, where the former troops were allowed to farm.

Municipalities

# Ciudad Antigua # Dipilto # El Jícaro # Jalapa # Macuelizo # Mozonte #

Murra Murra is a municipality in the Nueva Segovia Department of Nicaragua. Murra is a small municipal head in eastern Nueva Segovia department. The tiny pueblo has a population of approximately 1,000 inhabitants and is made up of four barrio ''Bar ...

# Quilalí # San Fernando # Santa María # Wiwilí de Nueva Segovia

References

External links

Portal del Norte de Nicaragua
{{Authority control Departments of Nicaragua