Siuna
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Siuna | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
 Aerial view of Siuna on the morning of 20 October 2008 | |
  Siuna Location in Nicaragua | |
| Coordinates: 13°44′01″N 84°46′48″W / 13.73361°N 84.78000°W | |
| Country |  Nicaragua |
| Region |  North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor |
| • Mayor | Onilda Reyes Rocha |
| Area | |
| • Land | 1,945.88 sq mi (5,039.81 km2) |
| Population (2020 estimate)[1] | |
| • Municipality | 104,385 |
| • Urban | 23,439 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (No DST) |
| Climate | Am |
Siuna is a county-sized administrative municipality and a city in Nicaragua, located approximately 318 kilometres (198 mi) northeast of the capital city of Managua and 218 kilometres (135 mi) west of the coastal city and regional capital Bilwi in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region. Siuna is the name of the city as well as the municipality. The municipality of Siuna contains 204 rural communities and 20 neighborhoods. Most were settled in support of gold mining along the drainage basin, leading to rapid population growth from the mid-1930s.
Geography[]
The municipality of Siuna is limited to the north with the municipality of Bonanza, to the south with the municipalities of Paiwas and Río Blanco, to the East with the Municipalities of Rosita, Prinzapolka and La Cruz de Río Grande, to the west with the municipalities of Waslala and El Cuá and San Jose de Bocay.
Geographical position: Between coordinates 13 ° 44 'north latitude and 84 ° 46' west longitude.
Surface: 5,039.81 km2. (INETER - 2000)
Height: 200 masl (INETER, 2000)
Distance to Managua: 318 km.
Distance to Puerto Cabezas: 218 km.
Siuna declared itself a City and Municipality, according to Law 1599 of July 3, 1969, Published in Gazette No. 229 of October 7, 1969. With a Territorial Extension of 6,099,355 km2. In 2015, 46 years of being a City and Municipality are celebrated.
Siuna has lost 2,522,729 km2 since it was declared a municipality in 1969. The first 1,026,4277 km2 were lost when the then community of Waslala asked the Sandinista government to declare it a municipality. Faced with the demand of the community members, in 1989 President Daniel Ortega Saavedra declared Waslala a municipality attached to the Autonomous Region of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.
Another new loss of 1,496,3013 km2 arises when the historic community of Mulukuku requests the Liberal Government to convert it into a municipality. Given the demand of the community members, in 2004 President Enrique Bolaños declared Mulukuku a municipality attached to the Autonomous Region of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.
It started with 6,099,355 km2 and today it only has 3,576,625 km2 left.
In the Municipality of Siuna there are three large protected areas:
1. In March 1971 the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve with an area of 631,302 km2 was declared according to Decree No. 1789 and published in Gazette No. 78 in April of the same year.
2. In accordance with the reform to decree No. 44-91, in December 1996, “BOSAWAS” was declared a National Reserve of natural resources with an extension of 6,818,313 km2 in decree No. 32-96 that was approved and it was published in Gazette No. 60 on April 2, 1997.
3. In October 1991, Cerro Banacruz Natural Reserve was declared, with an Extension of 270,547 km2 according to decree No. 42-91 and published in Gazette No. 207 on November 4 of the same year.
These three protected areas are part of the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve.
Location and Extension:
The Mayangna Sauni Bas Indigenous territory is distributed between the municipalities of Siuna (16%) in Bonanza (30%) of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region and San José De Bocay (54%) of the department of Jinotega .
The lands inhabited by the community and the areas that constitute the traditional scope of their daily activities, represent a territorial extension of 43,241.4 ha, equivalent to 432.41 km2.
The Mayangnas inhabited these lands since ancestral times long before the Nicaraguan State existed, with collective and usufruct rights in accordance with the traditional forms of communal property tenure, which is supported by the Nicaraguan Political Constitution, Ley 28, Law 445 and International Agreements.
Demographics[]
The population of the Siuna municipality varies by information resource and ranges between 97,308[2] and 100,770 people. 22% of the population, or some 22,856 people, live in the city of Siuna, while approximately 78% of the population, 81,229 people, live in the over 200 rural communities.
There are 20 neighborhoods[3] that originally had names based on the population that lived there during the mining, such as "Moskitown" (where the Miskitos lived) and "Jamaicatown" (where the Creoles lived). Although these names are commonly used, today all neighborhoods have Spanish names.
The population is 99.7% Mestizo, 0.2% Mayangna, 0.07% Miskito, and 0.01% Creole.[4]
History[]
The town of Siuna was the site of La Luz Mining company, which was active from 1936 to 1968. There was migration from other areas of the country to work in the gold mine during those years, including people from the coast and indigenous groups. The mine was shut down in 1968 due to damage of the hydroelectric plant.[5]
Currently, Calibre Mining owns the mine, but it is inactive. The only producing mine in the mining triangle is in Bonanza, and operated through Hemco.
Hemco is also active in Siuna through the Javier Chamorro Forestry Project working through Norwegian teak grower NORTEAK. Since the end of the last century, interest was aroused in the exploitation of precious metals in Siuna (especially gold) by private and artisan miners, in addition to the activity of merchants who at that time visited the indigenous communities of the Sumu.
In 1908, the gold-seeking boom began, beginning the artisanal work on the banks of the Siunawás river. In 1909 mining exploitation was incorporated to the company La Luz Siuna and Los Angeles Mining Company which made its presence in the same area.
The industrial boom of gold and silver began on a large scale from the 30's and 40's, through the establishment of foreign companies (Canadian and American) that were dedicated to the exploitation of precious metals. This is how the municipality of Siuna arises and begins to structure and develop.
With the Sandinista revolution, the mining company was nationalized; However, the Sandinista government did not have the economic and financial capacity to sustain the industrial activity that was the main economic source of the municipality; The company closed operations in 1987 due to lack of investment and capital. In the 1980s, the few benefits left by mining production went to the Pacific, the municipality did not have any benefits, and today Siuna operates between poverty, misery and unemployment.
Siuna was created as a municipality on August 22, 1969, by the Legislative Power, with headquarters in the town of Siuna, elevated to the rank of city in that same decree Law.[6]
Government institutions[]
The following government institutions are present and working in Siuna: MINSA, MARENA, INTA, INAFOR, and as well as the SILAIS office for the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region.
Education[]
There are two universities that offer courses in Siuna. The URACCAN (Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense) which offer majors in Agro-Forestry and Local Development. The Martin Luther University offers a Nursing degree.
There is a secondary school run through MINED as well as a secondary/primary school run through the parish.
Economy[]
The majority of the population today are farmers after the closing of the regional gold mining operations. Service businesses and the educational institutions round out the town's employment. The primary crops are beans and corn. There is a greater focus in recent years on cacao production as alternative income. The organization Cacao RAAN works with a number of cooperatives in the region focused on cacao and chocolate production.
Bridges to Community[]
The NGO, Bridges to Community,[7] focused on community development and service learning, has an office in Siuna and actively works in two communities, Rosa Grande and Fonseca. Bridges to Community works with the local communities in projects focused on education, health, and economic development. In the area of education, Bridges to Community has most recently built with the community of Rosa Grande a library where now over 400 students in the area go to access literature, research, and study. In the area of health, Bridges to Community has worked most recently with the community of Fonseca in building a water project to benefit 30 houses in addition to the school and chapel. Bridges to Community is also working in digging a well and repairing the distribution system at the MINSA hospital to ensure constant water access in the hospital. Currently in discussion is a joint project involving Bridges to Community, MINSA, US-based Medical Schools, and local health leaders in building and creating a model health care clinic in the region.
Bridges to Community's approach is unique in that the NGO only works in communities that solicit the NGO's support and works with the community on projects that the community wants. In addition the approach focuses not only on construction of projects but of exchange between people and cultures through service learning and reflection.
In 2013 Bridges to Community will begin work in the community of Tadazna.
Transportation and tourism[]
Siuna Airport is served by Avianca Nicaragua (La Costeña). The town may be reached by bus on the Managua - Puerto Cabezas Highway or through Waslala on the Matagalpa - Waslala - Siuna road. The bus from Managua to Siuna takes 12 hours through Rio Blanco on the Puerto Cabezas road. Siuna is located 99 kilometres (62 mi) from Waslala and takes about 6 hours by bus.
In town taxis as well as a local bus system provide transportation to the public.
References[]
- ^ Citypopulation.de Population of departments and municipalities in Nicaragua
- ^ Information taken from MINSA-Siuna
- ^ MINSA records, Siuna
- ^ Siuna Mayors Office Records
- ^ http://www.calibremining.com/s/Siuna.asp
- ^ "Siuna | Observatorio de la Autonomía Regional Multiétnica". observatorio.uraccan.edu.ni. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
- ^ http://www.bridgestocommunity.org
External links[]
- Pictoral History of Siuna
- La Luz Mine, Siuna
- OpenStreetMap - Siuna
- Video Aerial Tour of Town of Siuna
- Video about Music played in Siuna at La Luz Gold Mine
- "A Town Survives by Jet Plane" Newsreel about Siuna by Paramount News from 1946
- Bridges to Community
- CACAO RAAN
- Written History of Siuna
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siuna (Nicaragua). |
Coordinates: 13°44′N 84°46′W / 13.733°N 84.767°W
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- Municipalities of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region