Puerto Cabezas

Puerto Cabezas on the map of Nicaragua

Puerto Cabezas (also Bilwi, now officially ) is the second largest port city on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua with about 35,000 inhabitants in the city and about another 30,000 in the same municipality (administrative region ). It is the capital of the autonomous region of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte ( RAAN ) and thus also the seat of government and the Parliament of the region. For the Miskito Indians living there, mainly, a mixture of indigenous peoples and immigrant Africans and Europeans, the port is an important commercial center. In addition to Spanish, especially Miskito, Creole English and Sumo Mayangna are spoken in the city.

The city was founded in 1929 on an as " Bilwi " known territory and named after General Rigoberto Cabezas, who had incorporated the Atlantic coast in the state of Nicaragua José Santos Zelaya under the President. Here, in 1961 an army was assembled for the US-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs. 1967 a large part of Puerto Cabezas is destroyed by fire.

Since 1996, the city officially Bilwi, the municipality of Puerto Cabezas is still called. In common parlance, however, both names are used interchangeably. In the local elections in November 2004 was to Elizabeth Henríquez for the first time a representative of the regional party YATAMA win the mayoralty.

The city has an airport for domestic air traffic with the international code PUZ, two universities and a bank. Unemployment is estimated at 90%. A major industry of the city is fishing, including crayfish are exported.

Twinning

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