Bluefields

Bluefields
Municipality
Bluefields and Bluefields Bay (Bahia de Bluefields)
Seal
Bluefields
Coordinates: 12°0′N 83°45′W / 12.000°N 83.750°W / 12.000; -83.750
Country	Nicaragua
Autonomous Region	South Caribbean Autonomous Region
Municipality	Bluefields
Government
• Mayor	Gustavo Castro
Area
• Municipality	4,774.75 km2 (1,843.54 sq mi)
Elevation	25 m (82 ft)
Population  (2023 estimate)[1]
• Municipality	58,633
• Density	12/km2 (32/sq mi)
• Urban	56,421
Time zone	UTCGMT-6
Climate	Af

Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions. It is located on Bluefields Bay at the mouth of the Bluefields River in the municipality of the same name.

It was named after Abraham Blauvelt, a Dutch-Jewish pirate, privateer, and explorer of Central America and the western Caribbean.^[2][3] It has a population of 56,005 (2022 estimate)^[4] and its inhabitants are mostly Afro-descendant Creoles, Miskitu, Mestizo, as well as smaller communities of Garinagu, Chinese, Mayangna, and Rama. Bluefields is Nicaragua’s chief Caribbean port, from which hardwood, seafood, shrimp and lobster are exported. Bluefields was a rendezvous for European buccaneers in the 16th and 17th century and became capital of the English protectorate of the Kingdom of Mosquitia in 1678.

During United States interventions (1912–15, 1926–33) in Nicaragua, US Marines were stationed there. In 1984, the United States mined the harbor (along with those of Corinto and Puerto Sandino) as part of the Nicaraguan Revolution. Bluefields was destroyed by Hurricane Joan in 1988 but was rebuilt.