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NICARAGUA. 634 NICARAGUA CANAL. amounted to al)out $2,12J,U00. The foreif.m debt, iiK-uned cliietly in the development of the railroad system, was al)out $1,312,000 in .July, lyU2. It is held in Great Britain, and is in ar- rears. The internal debt at the beyinniiij,'. of lltOl was abdut .$;i,300.000. Jletric weifzhts and measures and al.so the old Spanish denominations are employed. The sjstem of money is the same as in Mexico, silver being the standard value. The silver peso was worth 30.1 cents in L'nited States coin on January 1, 1903. PorULATiON. The census returns are largely estimates, the census of UKIO giving a total of 500.000. which is 80,000 more than the estimate for 1S'J5. and may be exaggerated. Managua is the capital, with 30.000 inhabitants. Other large towns are Leon (4.5,000), (iranada (25.000), jMasaya (20.000), and thinandega (20.000). The number of ilescendants of Spanish settlers is only about 17,000, the great mass of the popula- tion consisting of Indians, negroes, and mi.ed bloods. The Indians su]iply most of the lal)or and are docile and industrious. Most of the country people live in villages, many of them traveling several miles to their fields. The efforts to induce immigration have not been suc- cessful. Education and Religion. Education is in ii very backward condition, and the majority of the people are illiterate. Less than 20.000 pujiils attend the elementary schools. The universities at Leon and Granada, with instruction in law and medicine, have been consolidated. There are ten colleges. The only public library is supported b- the Government at Jlanagna, and is free to the public. A National Industrial, Commercial, and Scientific Museum has also been establi>hed there. The Roman Catholic faith is recognized in the Constitution as the State religion, but other forms of faith are not molested. History. The coast of Nicaragua was first seen by Columbus in 1502 or 1503. In 1522 Gil Gonzales Davila discovered Lake Nicaragua, and in I52(; Pedrarias Davila led an expedition into the country. It was organizeil as an intendencia of the Captain-Generalcy of Guatemala in 152S. In 1821 Nicaragua, in common with the other Central .American States, revolted from Spain, and was annexed to the Mexican Empire of Itur- bide. Upon the downfall of that leader Nica- ragua l)ecanie an independent State, but joined the Confederation of Central . ierica in 1823. That federation dissolved in 1839. and Nicaragua became once more in(le[)endcnt. ' The strife of parties, however, and the play of personal ambi- tion gave the country little peace. In 184! a dis- pute arose with (ireat Britain concerning the rights of a native chief on the Mosijuito Coast. This threatened at one time to lead to hostilities, but the matter was finally settled by a clause inserted in the Clayton-Iiulwer Treaty of 1850 and by a separate treaty, in which Great Brit- ain ceded all rights of a protectorate over the disputed territory to Nicaragua. The year 1855 was sigmilized by the famotis filibuster- ing expedition of William Walker (q.v.). whose attempt to establish a slavelidbling State in Cen- tral -America for once impelleri the ditferent .States to common action. Walker was driven out in lS5ti, and upfpn his renewin" his attempt was captured and shot (ISfiO). There followed for Nicaragua a loni; period of peace, broken in 1893 by a struggle for the Presidency, which in turn led to war with Honduras, owing to the unwarrantable interference of that State. Under the energetic administration of President Zelaya Nicaragua proceeded to annex the Mosquito Ter- ritory in 1894, and entered thereby into strained relations with Great Britain, which demanded comjiensation for its subjects. In 1895 Nica- ragua, Salvador, and Honduras united to form the Greater Republic of Central America, with provisions for the subsequent admission of Gua- temala and Costa Rica. A constitution was adopted and went into efTect on November 1, 1898; but one month later, owing to the dissatis- faction of Honduras, the lunon was dissolved. BiiiLioGHAi'iiy. Squier, A icaraijua. Its People, Scciuri/, Monuments, and the I'rojioaed Inter- oceanic Canal (2d ed., London, 1871): Levy, yotas (jeograficas y cconomicas soltrc la rr/n'iblica de Sicaragua (Paris, 1873); Belt, The Xatural- ist in yicaragua (London, 1873); Bancroft, His- tory of the Pacific States, vols, i.-iii., Cintral Anici-ica (San Francisco, 1882); Bovallius, Xiearaguan Antiquities (Stockholm. 1886); Chilli, The Spanish-American I'epiililics (New Y(U'k. 1891); Kalb, "Nicaragua." in American (leiigraiihieal Society (New York, 1893) : Pector, Etude eeonomirjuc sur la rcpublirjuc de icaragua (Neuchatel, 1893); Ortega, yicaragua en los priniervs aiios de su emancipacidn pohtica (Paris, 1894); Colquhoun, The Key of the Pacific (Lon- don. 1895); Lucas, yicaragua, Mar of the pili- husters (New York, 1890); Niedcrlein, The Stale of yicaragua (Philadelphia. I89S): Jledi- na, Le yicaragiia en lUdit (Paris, 1900); l'nited States Consular Peports (Washington, 1900); Walker, Ocean to Ocean: An Account. Personal and Historical, of yicaragua (Chicago, 1902). Consult also the authorities referred to under NiCAiiAciiA Canal. NICARAGUA, L.KE. The largest lake of the -American continent between Lake Michigan in the north and Lake Titicaca in the south. It lies in the southwestern part of the Republic of Nicaragiui, and is separated from the Pacific coast by an isthmus II miles wide at its narrow- est iioint (Map: Central -America. E 5). The lake is oval in shape, with a length of 110 miles, a maximum width of 45 miles, and an area of over 3000 square miles. Its depth is from 50 to 120 feet; its greatest depth is about 200 feet. It discharges southeastward into the Caribbean Sea through the San .Tuan River,' and receives the water of Lake Managua through the Tipitapa River. The mean elevation of its surface above the sea is now about 100 feet, but seemingly it was considerably greater 70-100 years ago. .An- cient bcaclu's show that in jiast ages it was continuous with Lake -Managua, and ilischarged into the Pacific Ocean throigh the Gulf of Fonseea. The shores of the lakr are lined with densely wooded mountain ranges, and the lake itself is studded with hundreds of islands, the largest of which, Ometepe, has two aitive vol- canoes. For the proposed interoceanic water- way through Lake Nicaragua, see Nicaragua Canal. NICARAGUA CANAL. A proposed ship canal across the territory of Nicaragua, by way of Lake Nicaragua, connecting the .tlantic and Pacific Oceans. The question of intrroreanic conununication across Central -America first be- gan to occupy the attention of the United States shortlv after the establishment of the inde- I