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Nicaraguan Americans

A Nicaraguan American (Spanish: nicaragüense-americano, nicaragüense-estadounidense, norteamericano de origen nicaragüense or estadounidense de origen nicaragüense) is an American of Nicaraguan descent. They are also referred to as "nica" or "nicoya".

The Nicaraguan American population at the 2010 Census was 348,202. Nicaraguans are the eleventh largest Hispanic group in the United States and the fourth largest Central American population.


More than two-thirds of the Nicaraguan population in the U.S. resides in California or Florida.


In California, Nicaraguans are more dominant in the Greater Los Angeles Area and San Francisco Bay Area. Large populations also reside in the Inland Empire and the cities of Sacramento, San Diego, and San Jose.


In Florida, 90% of Nicaraguans reside in the Miami Metropolitan Area. Miami-Dade County is home to 30% of Nicaraguans residing in the United States.

Cultural[edit]

Nicaraguan Americans are Spanish-speaking and predominately Catholic. They celebrate the patron saints of the Roman Catholic Church with festivals and processions, which also provide a context for artistic and cultural expressions of the local identity. The most important patronal festivals for communities in Florida include Santa Ana, San Sebastian, La Purisima, San Jeronimo and La Griteria.[2] Nicaragua is one of the most traditionalist countries in the Americas and so the majority of Nicaraguans define themselves as socially conservatives regardless of party affiliations or place of residence within the United States.

MLB player

Alex Blandino

MLB player

Marvin Benard

actor on American soap operas

Maurice Benard

burlesque dancer

Bella Blue

beauty pageant winner

Nastassja Bolívar

professional boxer

Randy Caballero

actress in film and TV

Barbara Carrera

actor

Oswaldo Castillo

restaurateur

Michael Cordúa

DJ

DJ Craze

poet

Salomón de la Selva

painter

Franck de Las Mercedes

Roman Catholic priest and former foreign minister

Miguel D'Escoto

painter and poet

Omar D'León

astrologer and TV host

Edward'O

singer

Luis Enrique

NHL hockey player

Bill Guerin

human rights advocate

Bianca Jagger

taekwondo

Diana López

taekwondo

Mark López

taekwondo

Steven López

MLB player (1976–1998)

Dennis Martínez

former Staff Sergeant of the Florida National Guard turned anti-war activist

Camilo Mejía

singer, composer, writer and musician

Tony Meléndez

children's magazine publisher[12]

Christianne Meneses Jacobs

Republican strategist and political commentator

Ana Navarro

professional boxer

David Obregón

professor, writer, and poet

Horacio Peña

NFL placekicker

Eddy Piñeiro

Nicaraguan-born swimmer

Claudia Poll

Nicaraguan-born swimmer

Silvia Poll

former First Lady of Nicaragua (1967–1978)

Hope Portocarrero

anthropologist and professor

James Quesada

weather anchor for CNN

Mari Ramos

singer and television personality

Tammy Rivera

bilingual hip hop and reggaeton singer

J Smooth

U.S. congresswoman and the 25th United States Secretary of Labor

Hilda Solis

military person

Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero

rapper

T-Bone

reggaeton singer

Torombolo

WWE Diva, professional wrestler

Eve Torres

TV actor, director

Gabriel Traversari

jazz musician and composer

Donald Vega

NFL player

Eddy Pineiro

UFC, mixed martial arts

Jason Gonzalez

actress

Shakira Barrera

Nicaragua–United States relations

Cerar, K. Melissa, ed. Teenage Refugees from Nicaragua Speak Out (Rosen, 1995).

Funkhouser, Edward. “Migration from Nicaragua: Some Recent Evidence.” World Development 20, no. 8 (1992): 1209–18.

Hamilton, Nora, and Norma Stoltz Chinchilla. "Central American migration: A framework for analysis." Latin American Research Review 26.1 (1991): 75–110.

online

Lundquist, Jennifer H., and Douglas S. Massey. "Politics or economics? International migration during the Nicaraguan Contra War." Journal of Latin American Studies 37.1 (2005): 29–53.

online

Malone, Michael R. A Nicaraguan Family (Lerner Publications Co., 1998).

Smagula, Stefan. "Nicaraguan Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp. 315–327.

online

Folklife of Miami's Nicaraguan Communities

Historical Museum