Estelí: Information from Answers.com

Estelí

South end of Estelí looking towards Las Brisas-Quiabuc Natural Reserve,

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Nickname(s): "El Diamante de las Segovias" ("The Diamond of the Segovias")

Motto: "Estelí, amante del presente, forjador del futuro" ("Estelí, lover of the present, builder of the future")

Estelí

Coordinates: 13°05′N 86°21′W / 13.083°N 86.35°W

Country

Nicaragua

Foundation

1685

Government

- Mayor

Francisco Ramón Valenzuela Blandón

- Vice Mayor

Rosa Argentina Rugama Flores

Area

- Total

795.7 km² (307.2 sq mi)

Elevation

843.97 m (2,769 ft)

Population (2005 est.)

- Total

100.909

- Density

144.4/km² (374/sq mi)

Website

http://www.alcaldiaesteli.gob.ni/

Estelí, officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and municipality within the Estelí department. Is an active commercial center in the north and is known as "the diamond of segovias"

Located on the Pan-American Highway, 150 km north of Managua, Estelí is a fast growing and progressive city of about 119,000 people. It enjoys a pleasant climate throughout most of the year due to its location in the north central highlands at a mean elevation of 844 m above sea level. The city is also surrounded by forested mountains and plateaus that go up to 1600 m above sea level, some which are protected as natural reserves.

Estelí was the scene of heavy fighting in the war against the Somoza government during the 1970s.

1 Economy & Tourism
2 Sports
3 Infrastructure
4 Gallery
5 Sister Cities
6 References

Economy & Tourism

New commercial building in central Estelí.

The land around Estelí is perfect for growing tobacco for use in cigars, and the town became a refuge for Cuban cigar makers after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Award winning cigars have made Estelí one of the most important cigar-producing cities in the world. Estelí also has many language schools, restaurants, and hotels that cater to tourists traveling to nearby natural reserves and other parts of the region. Natural Reserves around the area include Miraflor, Tisey-Estanzuela, Las Brisas-Quiabuc, Tomabu, Tepesomoto and Moropotente.

According to the World Bank and International Finance Corporation's Municipal Scorecard 2008, which complements the annual Doing Business report, the municipality of Esteli ranks 1st and 2nd, out of 143 municipalities in ten Latin American countries, in quality and efficiency to obtain a construction permit and municipal operating license respectively.^[1] Esteli has improved its performance from the Municipal Scorecard 2007, where it ranked 5th out of 65 municipalities in five countries.^[2]

Sports

Estelí is home to one the best and most popular football (soccer) clubs in the country, the Real Esteli, nicknamed "The Train of the North." It is also home to a professional baseball team, Las Segovias - Esteli, which makes it one of only three cities in the country with both a professional football (soccer) and baseball team. During the 1970s, Esteli participated in the "Roberto Clemente" baseball tournament and had one of best baseball teams in the country with the help of one-time big league players like Porfi Altamirano and Albert Williams.^[3]

Infrastructure

Estelí has the best water supply systems in the country with near-full population coverage. It also has an extensive sewage disposal coverage.^[4]

At least three airfields have been built in Esteli throughout history, although none exists today. One of the first airfields documented played the role of alternate airport from 1930-34 when TACA established the service to carry passengers with an El Salvador-Tegucigalpa-Danli-Ocotal-Esteli-Managua route. La Thomson, which is three miles north of Esteli, is where the second airstrip was built and used by a company named "Thonsson Corwell" to help complete a stretch of the Pan-American Highway. The third airfield was built in in the north end of town in the 1980s but has now been urbanized.^[5]

In 1940 efforts were made to expand Nicaragua's railroad from El Sauce to the north via Esteli. Thirteen kilometers of rail, the town of Rio Grande, and a rairoad bridge were built with the intention of taking the rail up to Esteli along the Aquesalapa or Villa Nueva rivers which originate in the Quiabuc mountains, however, the project was abandoned.^[6]

Gallery

Estelí Cathedral	Foggy morning in Estelí valley.	Near Miraflor Nature Reserve, just outside of Estelí.	Salto Estanzuela (Estanzuela waterfall) located in the Tisey-Estanzuela Natural Reserve.
Rappelling down el Salto de la Estanzuela	Esteli Cinema, near the Central Park	Los Arcos Hotel