San Dionisio is a small

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

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 ...

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 ...

. Originally named Espino Blanco, the town was renamed San Dionisio in honor of

Dionisio de Herrera José Dionisio de la Trinidad de Herrera y Díaz del Valle (9 October 1781 in Choluteca, Honduras – 13 June 1850 in San Vicente, El Salvador) was a Liberal Honduran politician, head of state of Honduras from 1824 to 1827 and head of s ...

, former

President of Nicaragua The co-presidents of Nicaragua (), officially known as the presidency of the Republic of Nicaragua (), are the heads of state and head of government, government of Nicaragua. The office was created in the Constitution of 1854. From 1825 until ...

. This small town is away from

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, ...

, the capital of Nicaragua, and away from

city, the capital of the Matagalpa Department.

Population

People from this town are informally known as ''"nichanos''". San Dionisio is dominated by

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

s, but there are significant native populations in two sections of the municipality, wibuse and Portillo del Jicaro.

Comarcas

The municipality is divided into the comarcas (villages): El Corozo, El Carrizal, Las Cuchillas, El Ocote, Monte Verde, Piedra Larga, Los Limones, Wibuse, El Tempisque, and El Portillo del Jicaro.

Economy and services

Production is mainly devoted to coffee beans, beans, corn, livestock, and vegetables. Education is available through the secondary level. There is currently a medical center, and a hospital too. The Rio Calico runs through the town from north-west to south-east. The Matagalpa River is in the south-east. Buses runs all day from Matagalpa and Esquipulas.

Sports

Baseball is the major sport. There are many baseball players from this town playing for the Nicaragua team or major Nicaraguan baseball league.

Religion

The town is predominantly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, but

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

churches are springing up everywhere. There is a Catholic festivity on October 9 to honor

Pope Dionysius Pope Dionysius (Greek language, Greek: Διονύσιος) was the bishop of Rome from 22 July 259 AD to his death on 26 December 268. His task was to reorganise the Catholic Church, after the persecutions of Roman emperor, Emperor Valerian I, a ...

(San Dionisio). Like many small towns in Nicaragua, the residents do not receive much support from central government, only getting attention during

Political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracy, democracies, political campaigns often refer to election, electoral campaigns, by which representatives a ...

s. For this reason, change is slow.

References

Municipalities of the Matagalpa Department {{Nicaragua-geo-stub