From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicaraguan American (Spanish: Nicaragüense
Estadounidense) are Americans of Nicaraguan ancestry who
were born in or have immigrated to the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 177,684
Americans of full or partial Nicaraguan ancestry living in the
U.S. in 2000 and an estimated 281,167 in 2005.
Early
immigration
The earliest documents of immigration from Nicaragua to the United States was combined
in total with those of other Central American countries. However,
according to the U.S. Census
Bureau some 7,500 Nicaraguans legally immigrated from 1967 to
1976. An estimated 28,620 Nicaraguans were living in the U.S. in
1970, 90% of which self-reported as white on the 1970 census. Most Nicaraguan immigrants during the
late 1960s were women: there were only 60 male Nicaraguan
immigrants for every 100 female immigrants during this period.[3] In 1998
more than two million Nicaraguans were left homeless due to hurricane
Mitch, as a result many Nicaraguans received permanent
residence or temporary protected status (TPS) in the late
1990s.[4]
According to the 1990 U.S.
Census 168,659 of the total 202,658 documented Nicaraguans in
the U.S. were born in Nicaragua.[5] In 1992
approximately 10–12% of the Nicaraguan population had emigrated. These
emigrants tended to be disproportionately of working age, better
educated, and more often white-collar
workers than nonmigrants. In addition, emigrants were more
likely to come from larger premigration households and higher income households.[6]
Motives
for emigration
During the 1979 uprising, many wealthy families left Nicaragua.
The Sandinista
revolution during the 1980s brought a wave of Nicaraguan refugees into the U.S.[7] and the
largest wave of documented immigrants. Over 62 percent of the total
documented immigration from 1979 to 1988 occurred after 1984.[6]
Another motive for emigration during the 80s was the Contra war.
Many Nicaraguans who immigrated did so to escape poverty, in Santa Clara County, California, the
Nicaraguan public benefits recipients reported that in their
families, 43% have one self-employed person
or business owner, and 14% of the families
have two such persons.[4]
However, nearly all of the estimated 200,000 Nicaraguans who
fled to the U.S. (and other nearby Central American countries)
between 1978–1979 returned after the victory of the Sandinistas in 1979.[8]
Demographics
As of the United States 2000 population census, the number of
Nicaraguan Americans was 177,684. Approximately 83,533 males and
94,151 females. Of the population, about 76% was 18 or older and
just 5% was 65 or older.[1]
Approximately 68% of the Nicaraguan Americans that were 25 or
older were high
school graduates or higher and another 11% had received a bachelor's
degree or higher. The number of Nicaraguan Americans who had
received a bachelor's degree was higher than all other Central
American groups in the United States, with the exception of Salvadorans who made up 655
thousand, compared to 177 thousand Nicaraguan Americans. The
percentage of the population with a bachelor's degree is higher:
16% of Nicaraguan Americans compared to 5.5% of Salvadoran
Americans.[9]
Areas of greatest
concentration
The largest concentration of Nicaraguan Americans, about 79,559,
is mainly in the South Florida area (particularly Miami-Dade County), most notably around the
"Little Managua" section of Little Havana.
Sweetwater,
Florida and its surrounding area also has a high concentration
of Nicaraguan American, in 2000 16.63% of Sweetwater residents
identified as being of Nicaraguan heritage.[10]
This was the highest percentage of Nicaraguan Americans of any
place in the country. As a result, Sweetwater is also locally known
as "Little Managua" after Managua, the Nicaraguan capital.[1]
California hosts
the second largest concentration, most notably in the metropolitan
areas of Los Angeles
and San
Francisco. The number of Nicaraguan Americans living in
California was 51,336 in 2000.[1]
US communities with high percentages of people of Nicaraguan
ancestry
The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people
claiming Nicaraguan ancestry are:[10]
- Sweetwater, Florida 16.63%
- Fountainbleau, Florida
9.44%
- Miami, Florida 5.67%
- Hialeah Gardens, Florida
4.87%
- Tamiami,
Florida 4.66%
- Kendale Lakes, Florida
4.59%
- Richmond West, Florida
4.19%
- Hialeah,
Florida 4.07%
- West Little River, Florida
3.58%
- West
Miami, Florida 2.98%
- Colma,
California 2.94%
- University Park, Florida
2.89%
- The Hammocks, Florida 2.88%
|
- South Miami Heights,
Florida 2.79%
- Virginia Gardens, Florida
2.51%
- Kendall,
Florida 2.48%
- Coral Terrace, Florida
2.27%
- Westchester, Florida 2.25%
- Opa-Locka, Florida 2.22%
- Carol City, Florida 2.20%
- Princeton, Florida 2.15%
- Miami Springs, Florida
2.06%
- Medley,
Florida 2.00%
- Daly City, California 1.98%
- Olympia Heights, Florida
1.80%
|
U.S.
communities with the most residents born in Nicaragua
Top 25 U.S. communities with the most residents born in
Nicaragua are:[11]
- Sweetwater, FL 19.7%
- Canal Point, FL 12.4%
- Fountainbleau, FL 12.2%
- North Westside, FL
10.7%
- Miami, FL 7.2%
- Gladeview, FL 6.5%
- Rollingwood, CA 5.8%
- Hialeah, FL 5.6%
- Kendale Lakes, FL 5.6%
- Tamiami, FL 5.3%
- Kendall West, FL 5.1%
- Hialeah Gardens, FL 5.0%
- Richmond West, FL 4.7%
|
- Stacey Street, FL 4.6%
- Kendale Lakes-Lindgren Acres,
FL 4.4%
- West Little River, FL 4.1%
- West Miami, FL 3.9%
- Coral Terrace, FL 3.6%
- University Park, FL 3.5%
- Palmetto Estates, FL 3.4%
- Pinewood, FL 3.4%
- The Hammocks, FL 3.3%
- South Miami Heights, FL 3.3%
- Bayview-Montalvin, CA 3.2%
- Virginia Gardens, FL 3.2%
|
Nicaraguan
Americans
- Patrick Argüello, participated in the
Dawson's Field hijackings and
is considered a martyr of the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine
- Marvin
Benard, a Major League Baseball player
- Maurice
Benard, an actor on American soap operas All My Children
and General
Hospital.
- Claudia Bermúdez, politician, ran for
the United States Congress
- Róger
Calero, ran for U.S. President in the 2004
election.
- Oswaldo
Castillo, actor, most notable role includes the one in The Hammer.
- Michael
Cordúa (1961), restaurateur, entrepreneur, businessman, award
winning self-taught chef.
- DJ Craze, only DJ in
history to win 3 consecutive World DMC Champion titles.
- Salomón de la Selva, poet, author
of Tropical Town and Other Poems
- Miguel D'Escoto, Roman Catholic priest and
former foreign minister.
- Omar D'Leon, a painter and poet.
- Edward'O, an astronalyst and co-host
of 12
Corazones.
- Bianca
Jagger, human rights advocate and ex-wife of Mick Jagger.
- Diana
López, Olympic bronze medalist in the sport of taekwondo.
- Mark López,
Olympic silver medalist in the sport of taekwondo.
- Steven
López, two time Olympic gold medalist in the sport of taekwondo.
- Dennis Martinez, a Major League Baseball
Player (1976–1998).
- Camilo
Mejía, a former Staff Sergeant of the Florida National Guard
and anti-war activist
- Lester
Meléndez (1981), professional soccer player for the University
of Miami.
- T-Bone,
rapper.
- Tony
Meléndez, singer, composer, writer and musician who was born
with no arms.
- Christianne Meneses Jacobs,
publisher of Iguana, the United States' only Spanish-language
magazine for children.[12]
- Franck de Las Mercedes, a
painter
- David Obregon, a professional boxer
- Claudia Poll,
Nicaraguan born swimmer.
- Silvia Poll, Nicaraguan born swimmer.
- Horacio Peña,
professor, writer, and poet.
- Hope
Portocarrero, former First Lady of Nicaragua (1967–1972).
- James
Quesada, anthropologist and professor.
- Mari Ramos,
weather anchor for CNN.
- Hilda Solis, U.S. congresswoman.
- Eve Torres, WWE Diva, professional
wrestler
- J Smooth, a bi-lingual
hip hop and reggaeton
singer.
- Torombolo, a reggaeton singer.
- Gabriel Traversari, actor, director,
writer, singer, songwriter and painter.
- Donald Vega,
jazz musician and composer.
See also
References
and notes
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