History

Nicaraguan History

Pre-Columbian Era

When we refer to the indigenous cultures that inhabited what today is Nicaragua, the general tendency is to restrict our vision to those groups encountered by the westerners on the pacific coast at their moment of contact in the XVI century. That is, the Chorotegas, Nicaraos, and Maribios; Matagalpas or Chontales in the central part of the country; and Miskitos, Sumos, and Ramas on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua.

In 1960, scientific investigations in Nicaragua allowed us to go deeper into these processes through time, though there are still some unanswered issues due to lack of further investigations. At least in a very general way, we can outline some of our initial history.