Siuna

Siuna
Municipality
Aereal view of Siuna on the morning of 20 October 2008
Siuna Location in Nicaragua
Coordinates: 13°44′N 84°46′W / 13.733°N 84.767°W / 13.733; -84.767
Country	Nicaragua
Department	North Caribbean Autonomous Region
Government
• Mayor	Onilda Reyes Rocha
• Vice Mayor	Dr. Noel Espinoza
Area
• Municipality	1,950 sq mi (5,040 km2)
Population (2005)
• Municipality	64,092
• Density	33/sq mi (13/km2)
• Urban	10,345
Time zone	Central Time (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	No DST (UTC-6)
Climate	Am

Siuna, Nicaragua is a county-sized administrative municipality, located approximately 318 km from the capital city of Managua, Nicaragua and 218 km from the coastal city and regional capital Puerto Cabezas in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region (RACN). Siuna is the name of the city as well as the municipality. The municipality of Siuna contains 204 rural communities and 20 neighborhoods. Most were settled in support of Gold mining along the Ei River drainage basin leading to rapid population growth from the mid-1930s.

The population of the Siuna municipality varies by information resource and ranges between 97,308–to–100,770 people. Thirty percent of the population, or some 30,531 people, live in the city of Siuna, while approximately 70% of the population, 71,239 people, live in the over 200 rural communities.

There are 20 neighborhoods originally had names based on the population that lived there during the mine, such as "Moskitown" (where the Miskitos lived) and "Jamaicatown" (where the Creoles lived). Today, although these names are commonly used, all neighborhoods have Spanish names.

The population is 99.7% Mestizo, .2% Mayangna, .07% Miskito, .01% Creole.

The town of Siuna was the site of La Luz Mining company, which was active from 1936 to 1968. There was migration from other areas of the country to work in the gold mine during these years, including people from the coast and indigenous groups. The mine was shut down in 1968 due to damage of the hydroelectric plant.

Currently Calibre Mining owns the mine, but it is currently in-active. The only active mine in the mining triangle is located in Bonanza, Nicaragua and operated through HEMCO.

HEMCO is also active in Siuna through the Javier Chamorro Forestry Project executed through NORTEAK.

The following government institutions are present and working in Siuna: MINED, MINSA, MARENA, INTA, INAFOR, and as well as the SILAIS office for the RACCN.