Nicaragua Emigration and Immigration

Immigration to Nicaragua

 * Relative to its overall population, Nicaragua has never experienced any large scale wave of immigrants. The total number of immigrants to Nicaragua, both originating from other Latin American countries and all other countries, never surpassed 1% of its total population prior to 1995.
 * The 2005 census showed the foreign-born population at 1.2%, having risen a mere .06% in 10 years.
 * In the 19th century, Nicaragua experienced a wave of immigration, primarily from Europe. In particular, families from Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Belgium' moved to Nicaragua to start a new life. They received free land, monetary incentives, and other perks in exchange for populating unsettled territories and working in the new growing coffee industry.
 * There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian Nicaraguan, Jewish Nicaraguan, and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000.
 * There is also an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese. The Chinese Nicaraguan population is estimated at around 12,000.

Emigration from Nicaragua

 * Nicaragua, as well as other Latin American countries, have a long history of migration to the United States. However, Nicaragua is the only country in its region to have Costa Rica as the primary destination.
 * Smaller numbers of Nicaraguans live in many other countries around the world such as other countries in Latin America, Europe, Canada, China and Taiwan among others.

Nicaraguans in Costa Rica
Nicaraguan migration to Costa Rica has occurred since the mid-19th century. Unlike other Latin American countries, Nicaraguan migrants' primary destination is not the United States, it is Costa Rica. An estimated 10% (400,000 - 600,000) of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans; some of them migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country. Costa Rica and Nicaragua signed an agreement regulating seasonal migration in 1998; it allows Nicaraguans with work permits to enter Costa Rica at the western border at Peñas Blancas on the Pan-American Highway. In the northern part of Costa Rica there are 200,000 Nicaraguans and the Catholic Church in this area has an active program to protect the rights of migrant workers.

Nicaraguans in the U.S.

 * Abroad, the United States is home to the second largest number of Nicaraguans outside Nicaragua, particularly in the Miami area. The estimated number of Nicaraguan Americans in the U.S. was 281,167 in 2006, up from 177,684 in 2000.
 * According to the U.S. Census Bureau some 7,500 Nicaraguans legally immigrated from 1967 to 1976. An estimated 28,620 Nicaraguans were living in the U.S. in 1970, 90% of which self-reported as "white" on the 1970 census.
 * Most Nicaraguan immigrants during the late 1960s were women: there were only 60 male Nicaraguan immigrants for every 100 female immigrants during this period.
 * In 1998, more than two million Nicaraguans were left homeless due to hurricane Mitch, as a result many Nicaraguans received permanent residence or temporary protected status (TPS) in the late 1990s.
 * According to the 1990 U.S. Census 168,659 of the total 202,658 documented Nicaraguans in the U.S. were born in Nicaragua.
 * In 1992 approximately 10–12% of the Nicaraguan population had emigrated. These emigrants tended to be disproportionately of working age, better educated, and more often white-collar workers than nonmigrants. In addition, emigrants were more likely to come from larger premigration households and higher income households.
 * The largest concentration of Nicaraguan Americans in the U.S., about 79,559, is in Miami, Florida, most notably around the areas of Sweetwater and "Little Managua".
 * California hosts the second largest concentration, most notably in the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The number of Nicaraguan Americans living in California was 51,336 in 2000.