Rivas Department

{{Short description|Department of Nicaragua}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Rivas | native_name = | other_name = Departamento de Rivas | settlement_type = Department  | image_skyline = | image_caption = | image_flag = Flag of Rivas.svg | image_shield = Seal of Rivas.svg | motto = | nickname = | etymology =  | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Nicaragua | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 =  | image_map = Rivas Department in Nicaragua.svg | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = | coordinates_footnotes =  | seat = Rivas | seat_type = Capital  | established_title = | established_date =  | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 2162 | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi =  | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft =  | population_as_of = 2021 estimate | population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Nicaragua: Departments, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/nicaragua/cities/ |website=City Population }}</ref> | population_total = 183611 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_sq_mi= | population_urban = 91899 | population_demonym =  | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST =  | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | geocode = | iso_code = | blank_name = ISO 3166-2 | blank_info = NI-RI  | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Rivas''' ({{IPA|es|ˈriβas}}) is a department of the Republic of Nicaragua. It covers an area of {{Convert|2162|km2|abbr=on}} and has a population of 183,611 (2021 estimate). The department's capital is the city of Rivas. The indigenous inhabitants of Rivas are the Nicarao, and was the location of the pre-Columbian Nahua chiefdoms of Kwawkapolkan and Kakawatan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://territorioindigenaygobernanza.com/web/nnic_09/|title = Nahoas. Territorio indígena y gobernanza}}</ref><ref>Vida de González Dávila, Gil. Ávila, c. 1480 – 21.IV.1526. Descubridor y conquistador. et al., 2012</ref><ref>Historia general y natural de las Indias, islas y tierra-firme del mar océano; por el Capitán Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés; Primer Cronista del Nuevo Mundo; publícala la Real Academia de la Historia.- Tomo IV.- Libro XLII.- Capitulo XIII.</ref><ref>Colonización de américa, cuando la historia marcha, de Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo c. 1480 - 1557, 2006</ref>

==History== In the pre-Columbian era, Rivas was home to the Nahua nations of Kwawkapolkan, and Kakawatan, as well as neighbouring Chibchan peoples.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cocibolca y Xolotlán: Relectura de sus toponimias indígenas |url=https://www.mined.gob.ni/biblioteca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/No-13-Cocibolca-y-Xolotl%C3%A1n.pdf |access-date=2025-02-02 |archive-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405045112/https://www.mined.gob.ni/biblioteca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/No-13-Cocibolca-y-Xolotl%C3%A1n.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2022-10-12 |date=2015-01-26 |language=es |last=Nicaraocalli |title=Nicarao o Nicaragua / Nicaraocalli o Quauhcapolca |url=https://nicaraocalli.com/2015/01/26/nicarao-o-nicaragua-nicaraocalli-o-quauhcapolca/ |website=Nicaraocalli digital}}</ref><ref>Vida de González Dávila, Gil. Ávila, c. 1480 – 21.IV.1526. Descubridor y conquistador. et al., 2012</ref><ref>Historia general y natural de las Indias, islas y tierra-firme del mar océano; por el Capitán Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés; Primer Cronista del Nuevo Mundo; publícala la Real Academia de la Historia.- Tomo IV.- Libro XLII.- Capitulo XIII.</ref><ref>Colonización de américa, cuando la historia marcha, de Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo c. 1480 - 1557, 2006</ref> Kwawkapolkan was the most powerful chiefdom in pre-Columbian Nicaragua, ruled by chief Macuilmiquiztli, and translates to "place of capulín trees" in Nawat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cocibolca y Xolotlán: Relectura de sus toponimias indígenas |url=https://www.mined.gob.ni/biblioteca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/No-13-Cocibolca-y-Xolotl%C3%A1n.pdf |access-date=2024-10-25 |archive-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405045112/https://www.mined.gob.ni/biblioteca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/No-13-Cocibolca-y-Xolotl%C3%A1n.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It's a combination of the Nawat words ''Kwawit'' (tree),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://talkingdictionary.swarthmore.edu/pipil/?fields=all&semantic_ids=&q=tree|title=Pipil (Nahuat) Talking Dictionary|website=talkingdictionary.swarthmore.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://livingdictionaries.app/pipil/entries?q=%7B%22query%22:%22tree%22%7D|title=Entries | Pipil (nahuat) Living Dictionary|website=Living Dictionaries}}</ref> ''kapolin'' (capulín),<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|title=The Pipil Language of El Salvador|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5bmUh7jproC&pg=PA10|year=1985|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-088199-8|pages=10–12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231946345|title=The history of the word for Cacao in ancient Mesoamerica}}</ref> and ''-kan'' (a locative meaning "place of"). Kwawkapolkan extended from Rivas down to Bagaces in central Guanacaste in Costa Rica.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1qr6sk7.7|title = Las culturas indígenas y su medioambiente| jstor=j.ctv1qr6sk7.7 | last1=Newson | first1=Linda A. | last2=Bonilla | first2=Adolfo | date=2021 | pages=21–54 | publisher=Uol Insti for the Study of the Americas | isbn=978-1-908857-87-3 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Central-American-Nahua-distribution-based-on-Fowler-1981-469-523-The-enclaves-in_fig1_265144861|title=Central American Nahua distribution (based on Fowler 1981: 469-523).... | Download Scientific Diagram}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/El-Reino-De-Este-Mundo/563206.html|title=El reino de este mundo - Trabajos de investigación - 5407 Palabras|website=Buenas Tareas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url= https://www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1901_num_3_2_3365|title= The Aboriginals of Costa Rica|journal= Journal de la Société des Américanistes|date= 1901|volume= 3|issue= 2|pages= 125–139|doi= 10.3406/jsa.1901.3365|last1= Peralta|first1= De|last2= M|first2= Manuel|archive-date= 2024-01-05|access-date= 2024-01-05|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240105044804/https://www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1901_num_3_2_3365|url-status= live}}</ref>

Kakawatan was another Nahua chiefdom in Rivas, ruled by chief Wemak who was Macuilmiquiztli's cousin.<ref>Vida de González Dávila, Gil. Ávila, c. 1480 – 21.IV.1526. Descubridor y conquistador. et al., 2012</ref><ref>Los Indios precolombinos de Nicaragua y Costa Rica en los siglos XV y XVI, 2009 - Bolaños, Enrique</ref><ref>Historia de la Gran Nicoya en el sur de Mesoamérica, Jiménez-Santana 1997</ref> Wemak also had a warrior son named Eskuat, though he wasn't mentioned by Spanish sources again.<ref>Vida de González Dávila, Gil. Ávila, c. 1480 – 21.IV.1526. Descubridor y conquistador. et al., 2012</ref> The name ''Kakawatan'' is a combination of the Nawat words ''kakaw'' (Cacao), ''at'' (water), and ''-tan'' (locative suffix meaning land/place of).<ref>{{Cite journal|url= https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/antropologia/article/view/22958|title= El Nawat de Cuzcatlan|journal= Anales de Antropología|date= 1971|volume= 8|last1= Rendón|first1= Juan J.|archive-date= 2024-09-06|access-date= 2024-10-26|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240906132019/https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/antropologia/article/view/22958|url-status= live}}</ref> Therefore Kakawatan translates to "land of cacao water", referring to chocolate drinks, one the most important aspects of Nicarao culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://antharky.ucalgary.ca/caadb/sites/antharky.ucalgary.ca.caadb/files/Steinbrenner_2006_Cacao_in_Greater_Nicoya_Ethnohistory_and_a_Unique_Tradition.pdf|title=Chocolate in Mesoamerica A Cultural History of Cacao|access-date=2024-03-01|archive-date=2024-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606121759/https://antharky.ucalgary.ca/caadb/sites/antharky.ucalgary.ca.caadb/files/Steinbrenner_2006_Cacao_in_Greater_Nicoya_Ethnohistory_and_a_Unique_Tradition.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/2569524|title= The Distribution of Cacao Cultivation in Pre-Columbian America|jstor= 2569524|last1= Bergmann|first1= John F.|journal= Annals of the Association of American Geographers|date= 1969|volume= 59|issue= 1|pages= 85–96|doi= 10.1111/j.1467-8306.1969.tb00659.x|archive-date= 2024-02-20|access-date= 2024-03-01|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240220074857/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2569524|url-status= live|url-access= subscription}}</ref> This tradition is still practiced in the communities of Rivas among the descendants of the Nahuas both indigenous and mestizos alike.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.el19digital.com/articulos/ver/titulo:153639-festival-toma-chocolate-en-rivas-celebrando-nuestro-ancestral-grano-precioso|title=Festival "Tomá Chocolate" en Rivas celebrando nuestro ancestral grano precioso|website=El 19 Digital}}</ref>

Chibchan minorities lived and thrived within Kwawkapolkan and Kakawatan alongside the Nahua majority. Chibchans also served in the Nahua chiefdoms armed forces to further integrate into Nahua society, as military service provided social advancement and assimilation.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Los Pueblos Indígenas de Mesoamérica y Centroamérica|last=Carmack|first=Robert|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2017|isbn=9781498558976}}</ref><ref>Los Indios precolombinos de Nicaragua y Costa Rica en los siglos XV y XVI, 2009 - Bolaños, Enrique</ref><ref>Historia de la Gran Nicoya en el sur de Mesoamérica, Jiménez-Santana 1997</ref> The cultivation of potatoes in Kwawkapolkan and Kakawatan also suggests cultural diffusion between the Nahuas and Chibchans, as the Chibchans introduced potatoes to Nicaragua from South America which did not reach northern Mesoamerica.<ref>Los Indios precolombinos de Nicaragua y Costa Rica en los siglos XV y XVI, 2009 - Bolaños, Enrique</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nicatourism.com/2022/11/bringing-home-flavors-of-nicaragua.html?amp=1|title= Bringing Home the Flavors of Nicaragua: A Provisional Guide to Great Nicaraguan Cuisine}}</ref> Before and during spanish contact, Kakawatan and Kwawkapolkan had a military alliance and were in a constant state of war with the Chorotegas, the Kingdom of Nicoya, and later fought together against the Spanish.<ref>Ibarra Rojas, 1994</ref> Kwawkapolkan and Kakawatan sent their armies as far north as Carazo during their wars against the Chorotegas, and as far south as the Nicoya Peninsula and southern Guanacaste during their military campaigns against the Kingdom of Nicoya and the Huetares.<ref>Ibarra Rojas, 1994</ref><ref>Los Indios precolombinos de Nicaragua y Costa Rica en los siglos XV y XVI, 2009 - Bolaños, Enrique</ref><ref>Historia de la Gran Nicoya en el sur de Mesoamérica, Jiménez-Santana 1997</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/983406|title= The Ethnic Affinities of the Guetares of Costa Rica|jstor= 983406|last1= Brinton|first1= Daniel G.|journal= Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|date= 1897|volume= 36|issue= 156|pages= 496–498}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/antropologia/article/view/1968|title= The Nicarao, The Voto Indians and the Huetares In Conflict|journal= Cuadernos de Antropología|date= 2011|volume= 21|last1= Rojas|first1= Eugenia Ibarra}}</ref>

==Overview== Rivas is known for its fertile soil and beaches. Throughout the department, there are many sugar cane, plantain, tobacco, and other crop plantations. The department borders Lake Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The southern part of the department borders with Costa Rica.{{Cn|date=October 2023}} A small fishermen village, called San Juan del Sur, has turned into a popular tourist attraction because of its access to beaches in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rivas, Nicaragua - ViaNica.com |url=https://vianica.com/nicaragua/rivas |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Vianica.com}}</ref> Another major tourist attraction is Ometepe, a large volcanic island inhabited by about 32,000 people (2005 census). Nawat Nicarao people still inhabit the department.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://territorioindigenaygobernanza.com/web/nnic_09/|title = Nahoas. Territorio indígena y gobernanza}}</ref>

== Municipalities ==

* Altagracia * Belén * Buenos Aires * Cárdenas * Moyogalpa * Potosí * Rivas * San Jorge * San Juan del Sur * Tola

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.vianica.com/visit/rivas ViaNica.com - Rivas], including photos, hotels, restaurants and local activities

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Category:Rivas Department Category:Departments of Nicaragua Category:Costa Rica–Nicaragua border crossings