Puerto Cabezas
| Puerto Cabezas | ||
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Coordinates: 14 ° 2 ′ N , 83 ° 23 ′ W Puerto Cabezas on the map of Nicaragua
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| Basic data | ||
| Country | Nicaragua | |
| region | Region Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Norte | |
| City foundation | 1929 | |
| Residents | 33,600 (2005) | |
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| Detailed data | ||
| height | 8 m | |
| Waters | Atlantic | |
| Time zone | UTC −6 | |
| City Presidency | Guillermo Espinoza Duarte | |
| Website | ||
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Puerto Cabezas (also Bilwi ( Miskito language ) now officially) is the second largest port city on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua with around 35,000 inhabitants in the city and around another 30,000 in the municipality of the same name (administrative district). It is the capital of the autonomous region Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Norte and thus also the seat of the government and parliament of the region. The port is an important trading center for the Miskito Indians who mainly live there , a mixture of indigenous people and immigrant Africans and Europeans. In addition to Spanish , Miskito, Creole English and Sumo Mayangna are spoken in the city .
The city was founded in 1929 on a territory known as "Bilwi" and named after General Rigoberto Cabezas, who incorporated the Atlantic coast into the Nicaraguan state under President José Santos Zelaya . In 1961, an army was assembled here for the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion . In 1967 much of Puerto Cabezas was destroyed in a fire.
Since 1996 the city is officially called Bilwi, the municipality continues to be Puerto Cabezas. In common parlance, however, both names are used synonymously. In the local elections in November 2004, Elizabeth Henríquez, a representative of the regional YATAMA party, won the mayor's office for the first time.
The city has an airport for domestic air traffic with the international code PUZ , two universities and a bank. Unemployment is estimated at 90%. An important branch of the city's economy is fishing , among other things lobsters are exported.
Town twinning
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Manchester , UK -
Burlington , Vermont, USA -
Luleå , Sweden
Web links
- Puerto Cabezas (Spanish)
