Tipitapa

Tipitapa
Municipality
A colonial house in Tipitapa
Flag Seal
Tipitapa Location in Nicaragua
Coordinates: 12°12′N 86°06′W / 12.200°N 86.100°W / 12.200; -86.100
Country	Nicaragua
Department	Managua
Founded	1755
Area
• Municipality	975.17 km2 (376.52 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Municipality	130,627
• Density	130/km2 (350/sq mi)
• Urban	70,937

Tipitapa is a municipality in the Managua department of western Nicaragua. The area is located between Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua.

Tipitapa began as a settlement of local tribes. The first settlers were the Chorotegas, who populated central Nicaragua and especially the location between two lakes. Over time, the Chorotegas were divided into two rival gangs, the Dirianes and Nagrandanos. The kingdom of Dirianes was the jurisdiction to which it belonged. Pre-Tipitapa had its own social, economic and administrative policy. The largest populations were Managua, Xalteva, Diriomo, Niquinohomo, and Mateare Nindirí. There are two versions of the origin of the name of Tipitapa. The first is said to be of Mexican origin and is formed from the prefix "telpë" meaning "stone" with "petlat" meaning "mat or bedroll" and "pan" which means "place" to form "place of stone backpacks". The second version is that "Tipitapa" is derived from the voices "tpitzin" as "alt" meaning "short or small" with the adverb of place "apan" to mean "in the vicinity of a small river or small stream".

The original settlement was established in an area located to the southwest of the present town, near the river's shad, and like all Indian villages, the sector had a small population whose economic activity was fishing (in Lake Managua).

The current city, Tipitapa, was founded after the town was transferred from the old seat, by the wealthy Spanish landowner Don Juan Bautista Almendarez in 1775. It took him two years of petitioning to the government of the Kingdom of Guatemala, to be granted authority to move the city.

Almendarez built the chapel and the first bridge in Tipitapa. During the colonial period, Tipitapa's indigenous population dwindled to approximately 1,211 people. Its residents migrated to other cities due to the high rate of mortality because of epidemic diseases and the national war.

The most important historical event for Tipitapa was the Black Thorn Treaty. The treaty was signed on May 4, 1927, between liberal and conservative factions that were in open war for political power in the country.