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 Chinese Nicaraguan

Chino Nicaragüense

Total population

12,000[1]

Regions with significant populations

Bluefields, Puerto Cabezas, Managua

Language(s)

Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, others

Religion(s)

Christianity, Buddhism, others

Related ethnic groups

Chinese Cubans, Overseas Chinese

Chinese Nicaraguans (Simplified Chinese: ?????? Pinyin: ní ji? l? gu? huá rén Spanish: Chino Nicaragüense) are Nicaraguans of Chinese ancestry who were born in or have immigrated to Nicaragua. They are part of the ethnic Chinese diaspora (or Overseas Chinese). The Chinese first arrived in Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, where most settled in cities such as Bluefields, El Bluff, Laguna de Perlas, and Puerto Cabezas.[2] The Chinese immigrants dominated the commerce of the main coastal towns on the Caribbean coast prior to 1979. Then in the late 19th century began migrating to the Pacific lowlands of the country

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 The Chinese were thought to have arrived in Nicaragua in the late 19th century, the majority of which came from China’s Gu?ngd?ng (??) province.[4] They were unsubstantiated until the second census (in 1920) revealed 400 citizens of Chinese nationality. According to documents the population of Puerto Cabezas in the R.A.A.N. department was formed not only by the Miskitos but communities of Jamaicans, Germans and also Chinese in 1925.[5] Also, the community of Chinese immigrants in Bluefields was thought to be the largest in Central America.[6] The first Chinese consul came to Nicaragua in 1930.[7]

Many Chinese in Nicaragua committed themselves to the commerce industry and opened up businesses.[5] They also dedicated themselves to the candy, soap, and clothing industries. They dominated the commerce of the main coastal towns on the Caribbean coast prior to 1979.

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A California Gold Rush handbill listing Nicaragua as a shortcut

“…It is possible that between the thousands of passengers who made that passage there were Chinese citizens who remained in Nicaragua, attracted by the natural beauty and the hospitality of a country that continues maintaining those same characteristics to the immigrants of different nationalities that have already made Nicaragua their second mother country.”

Although information about when the Chinese first arrived in Nicaragua is scarce, Fernando Centeno Chiong, a Nicaraguan historian, journalist and university professor of Chinese decent, published an article in La Prensa about the presence of the Chinese. Chiong wrote that there are some references that exist stating that the Chinese first arrived in Nicaragua in the mid 1800s,[8] most notably during the California Gold Rush in which people from all over the world traveled to California to mine for gold, tens of thousands of which took a steamboat that was operated by the Accessory Transit Company that was directed by commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt.[9] The boat then took the path through the San Juan river, a site that has been a proposed project for the Nicaragua Canal, Chiong wrote:

During this time there were restrictions that prohibited the entrance of Asian citizens in the country,[5] in spite of which, many of them defying the prohibition settled down in what is thought to have been the first Chinese presence in the American continent, perhaps before the arrival from these citizens to Peru or Panama.[8]

Shortly after World War II, which began in 1939 and ended in 1945, large quantities of Chinese began arriving in Nicaragua, but during the 1979 Sandinista revolution many fled to nearby Honduras, Costa Rica, and the USA

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Migration to the Pacific CoastThe Chinese had begun heading to the Pacific side of Nicaragua and therefore started to settle in the cities of Managua, Granada, Leon, and Masaya at the end of the 19th century. The majority of Chinese who immigrated to Nicaragua were men, many of whom converted to Christianity, and married Nicaraguan women,[5] introducing the country to last names such as: Lau, Sujo, Chang, Cheng, Siu, Law, Quant, Chow, Chiong, Kuan, Wong, Samqui, Saint and Loyman, all of which represent the descendants of the first immigrants today.[8] It is approximated that the Taiwanese are decedents of 15 families.[11] Also, there are an estimated 7,000 people who speak Chinese.

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Chinese Club and the Chinese Nicaraguan Association The first club aimed for Chinese Nicaraguans, Club Chino (Chinese Club), was conformed in the South Atlantic region on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. It wasn’t until the 1940s that the club expanded into the capital city of Managua. After the Chinese Club expanded into Managua, the Asociación China Nicaragüense (Chinese Nicaraguan Association) was founded and became one of the most active and important associations of Nicaragua, due to the great economic power that the Chinese represented in the nation.

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Chinese Nicaraguan Association after the Sandinista revolutionDuring the Sandinista revolution many Chinese Nicaraguans decided to emigrate to neighboring countries and the United States causing the association to be inactive for around 10 years. However, the association became active once again in 1992 after some members approached the ambassador and expressed to him the importance to celebrate the Republic of China’s Double Tenth Day (???).[13]

Other active clubs/associations include the Club de Jóvenes Chinos de Nicaragua (Club of Chinese teens of Nicaragua).

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Arlen Siu - Martyr of the Sandinista revolution.

Gilberto Wong - Presidential Spokesman of Nicaragua

Vilma Rosa Leon York - Vice Minister of Federal Depository Agency; & of Education

Mayling Montero Lau - Queen of the Chinese Associations of Central America.

Rufino Chow - former mayor of Siuna

Angela Chow - former mayor of El Rama

Napoleón Chow - Director of Nicaraguan Institute of Culture

Juan Chow - Poet

Oscar Chow - President of the Temple Student Government at Temple University

Octavio Chow - Miskito Catholic deacon

Jaime Chow Zúñiga - Regional councilman of R.A.A.N.

Pablo Wong - Senior vice president of market development for Fidelity National Financial

Hugo Sujo Wilson - Professor and historian

Franklin Sujo Coe - Fromer Director of the Centro de Insumos Para la Salud (CIPS)

Jose Sujo Coe - Member of the Hall of Fame of Nicaraguan Sports as of May 2006.

Antonio Sujo - Commercial director of Parmalat-Nicaragua

Jorge Castillo Quant - Leader of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party.

Maritza Quant - M.D., Minister of Health of Nicaragua

Henry Quant - Manager of Delta Air Lines Latin American operations

Maria Auxilliadora Chiong - Director of the Instituto Mujer y Comunidad

Agustín Moreira Chiong - Coordinator of the Unión de Radioaficionados Experimentadores de Nicaragua (UREN)

Fernando Centeno Chiong - Journalist, lawyer, university professor and secretary of the Chinese Nicaraguan Association

Vicente Cheng Lee - President of the Chinese Nicaraguan Association and former mayor of El Rama from 1976 - 1979.

Nen Chow Sujo - Mayor of El Rama

Luis Kuan Altamirano - Former mayor of Cuá-Bocay

Indiana Siu González - Queen of the Chinese Nicaraguan Association 2007

Scarleth Cuadra Lee - Queen of the Chinese Nicaraguan Association 2006

Luis Wong Chan - Founder and Director of the Juan y Pina Wong Foundation

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