San Juan de Nicaragua
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San Juan de Nicaragua San Juan del Norte |
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|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 San Juan de Nicaragua
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| Coordinates: 10°55′N 83°42′W / 10.917°N 83.700°W | |
| Country |
 Nicaragua
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| Department | Río San Juan |
| Area | |
| • Municipality | 640 sq mi (1,657 km2) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Municipality | 1,307 |
| • Density | 2.0/sq mi (0.79/km2) |
| • Urban | 985 |
San Juan de Nicaragua, formerly known as San Juan del Norte or Greytown, is a town and municipality in the Río San Juan department of Nicaragua.
Greytown lies on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast just to the south of the Mosquito Coast near the border with Costa Rica. It is located at the mouth of the San Juan River which flows east from Lake Nicaragua and is along the route of various proposals for a Nicaragua Canal to the Pacific Ocean.
The town's geography is influenced by the San Juan River delta with volcanic sediment deposits from Costa Rican volcanoes interacting with ocean currents and winds. This action fills the town's harbor with shifting sandbars and spits.
San Juan del Norte was founded by the Spanish and was a small fort and customs station. Spanish explorers first reached the bay at the mouth of the San Juan River on 24 June (feast day of Saint John the Baptist) 1539 and named it San Juan del Norte (St. John of the North). A garrison was first established in 1541 as San Juan de la Cruz by Nicaraguan governor Rodrigo Contreras.
In 1707 and again in 1762, the area was captured by an alliance of Miskitos, Zambos (Afro-Indians), and English. After 1762, settlement of the area began and a 1778 commercial treaty permitted residency of Spaniards. The eastern coast of Nicaragua had long fallen under British influence with the Mosquito Coast being a protectorate from 1740 but the Spanish asserted control over San Juan del Norte. In 1796, the town was declared a free port by the Spanish but the Spanish were ousted in 1821 with the independence of Central America.
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Wikipedia