Tipitapa

Tipitapa
Municipality

A colonial house in Tipitapa

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Tipitapa

Location in Nicaragua

Coordinates: 12°12′N 86°06′W / 12.200°N 86.100°W / 12.200; -86.100
Country  Nicaragua
Department Managua
Founded 1755
Area
  Municipality 975.17 km2 (376.52 sq mi)
Population (2012)
  Municipality 130,627
  Density 130/km2 (350/sq mi)
  Urban 70,937

Tipitapa is a municipality in the Managua department of western Nicaragua. The area is located between Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua.

History

Tipitapa began as a settlement of local tribes. The first settlers were the Chorotegas, who populated central Nicaragua and especially the location between two lakes. Over time, the Chorotegas were divided into two rival gangs, the Dirianes and Nagrandanos. The kingdom of Dirianes was the jurisdiction to which it belonged. Pre-Tipitapa had its own social, economic and administrative policy. The largest populations were Managua, Xalteva, Diriomo, Niquinohomo, and Mateare Nindirí. There are two versions of the origin of the name of Tipitapa. The first is said to be of Mexican origin and is formed from the prefix "telpë" meaning "stone" with "petlat" meaning "mat or bedroll" and "pan" which means "place" to form "place of stone backpacks". The second version is that "Tipitapa" is derived from the voices "tpitzin" as "alt" meaning "short or small" with the adverb of place "apan" to mean "in the vicinity of a small river or small stream".

The original settlement was established in an area located to the southwest of the present town, near the river's shad, and like all Indian villages, the sector had a small population whose economic activity was fishing (in Lake Managua).

The current city, Tipitapa, was founded after the town was transferred from the old seat, by the wealthy Spanish landowner Don Juan Bautista Almendarez in 1775. It took him two years of petitioning to the government of the Kingdom of Guatemala, to be granted authority to move the city.

Almendarez built the chapel and the first bridge in Tipitapa. During the colonial period, Tipitapa's indigenous population dwindled to approximately 1,211 people. Its residents migrated to other cities due to the high rate of mortality because of epidemic diseases and the national war.

The most important historical event for Tipitapa was the Black Thorn Treaty. The treaty was signed on May 4, 1927, between liberal and conservative factions that were in open war for political power in the country.

In 1929, the city's name was changed to "Villa Stimson" after the U.S. government sent Henry L. Stimson. It is not clear why the old Indian name "Tipitapa" was abolished. It was not until 1961 that the name was changed back to "Tipitapa" by legislative decree.

Another important historical event for the town of Tipitapa and for all of Nicaragua, is the Battle of San Jacinto, fought on September 14, 1856. 120 Nicaraguan soldiers, commanded by (then) Colonel Jose Dolores Estrada, fought against more than 300 well-armed pirates who, despite their advantage, were overthrown by the courageous national patriots.

Geography

Tipitapa has a total area of 975.17 km2 (376.5 sq mi).

Territorial division

Tipitapa Township is divided into urban and rural sectors. The urban sector is divided into eight districts, five districts of the periphery, and seven settlements.

Hydrography

Tipitapa Township is in the "Lakes Basin" which extends from the Gulf of Fonseca to the mouth of Rio San Juan. The hydrographic system of the municipality is bounded mainly by the eastern shores of Lake Managua and the Tipitapa River which is an elongated estuary 35 miles (56 km) long and joins Lake Managua to Lake Nicaragua. Lake Managua is about 30 feet (9 m) higher than Lake Nicaragua, so when the lake level is high, the waters run into the Tipitapa River, causing floods that affect certain urban areas of the city.

On the north shore of Lake Managua, leads the Rio San Antonio, of relatively short length because of its origin near the Estrada Plateau. On the southern shore of the lake, there are no tributaries because the volcanic soil is very porous, which favors the infiltration of water.

Another major river is the Malacatoya, which runs through the town on the eastern side and flows into Lake Nicaragua and has a length of 106 km (66 mi) and an annual flow of 1.06 billion cubic metres per second (37.4×10^9 cu ft/s).

Types of soil

The soils are classified into five types, depending on location:

Vegetation

The vegetation varies by area.

In the north, the vegetation is essentially low scrub. The potential land use is for livestock. Plants are mostly grasses to protect soils and trees for energy purposes.

The vegetation in central and north-east is cash-crops. The soil is suitable for growing sugar cane, sesame, sorghum and cattle tech.

The southern area retains most of the vegetation of the town. It is dominated by Evergreen trees and shrubs. Soils are also proper for the cultivation of maize, cassava, sorghum, sesame and livestock, crops and Musa.

Tipitapa Township falls within the area called "semi-arid scrub forest" and "Semi tropical forest savanna." The Semi Sabana forest type is characterized by the contrast between the period of seasonal rain and drought between the months of May and November. The scrub forest, characteristic of the plains and dry places, is made up of highly branched shrubs, twisted, small leaves and sometimes transformed into spines (deciduous trees).

Demographics

Tipitapa has a current population of 124.990 inhabitants. Of the total population, 50.02% is male and 49.98% is female. Nearly 55.1% of the population lives in the urban section.

Tradition and culture

The town celebrates a festival in honor of the patron saint "Esquipulas" or the Black Christ, from 6 to 30 January each year.

These festivities are held in the old parish church of the town and last for several days. It attracts locals and pilgrims that do not live there.

The town is famous for locking in the jurisdiction historic Hacienda San Jacinto, the place where the famous battle of the September 14, 1856 was fought. Nicaraguan military forces commanded by Colonel José Dolores Estrada fought the U.S. there. Colonel Estrada is classified as a national hero.

Thousands of Nicaraguans visit the house and corrals of the ranch San Jacinto National Monument in celebration of the heroic victory on its anniversary.

There is a monument to Sergeant Andres Castro on the road at the entrance to the farm. He "fell down a stone to a member of the opposing army, which sought to jump the corral of the hacienda," in an act that was clearly patriotic and courageous.

Economy

During the 1970s and 1980s, the town was noted for having a strong livestock industry due to the abundance of water and pasture. The early 1990s, saw a decline in production levels due to land use jurisdiction.

The most important crops today are melon, corn, sorghum, and peanut, for export.

Of the 5,000 head of cattle, most are for meat production.

Non-metallic quarry mining of tuff (stone quarry), occurs north of town on the Flags and the guanaco. In addition, stone bolon is taken from the banks of rivers and lake sand, for construction, is taken along the shores of Lake Managua.

The industrial fabric is poor and is mostly of medium size. The most prominent are woodworking, mills, bakeries, stations, blacksmiths, tailors, agricultural inputs, and mechanical workshops in general.

The main tertiary activity is trade, which has grown from its strategic position between Managua and the departments of the country, especially with Matagalpa, Chontales RAAN and RAAS.

The township collective serves six routes with an average of 50, these parts of the county seat every five minutes. The routes connect the town with Managua, Leon, Chinandega, Carazo, Masaya, Rivas, and Granada. The county seat has a bus terminal.

It also has a branch of the Nicaraguan Telecommunications Company (ENITEL), which provides postal, telegraph, messenger, mail service and international calls. The public telephone service has 150 subscribers scattered throughout the urban sector.

Sports

Tipitapa has a total of 11 green areas and 5 baseball fields in the urban area. In rural areas, there are playgrounds or green areas in each of the communities.

The city has many teams in major sports leagues in basketball, softball, baseball, kickball, and soccer.

Football is very popular with the local youth throughout the city. The team is in the Second Division of the national soccer league.

The local club was formed specifically with players originating from Tipitapa.

Coordinates: 12°12′N 86°06′W / 12.200°N 86.100°W / 12.200; -86.100

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/10/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.