Managua Managua Managua () is the capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and the center of eponymous department. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Managua, it had an estimated population 1,042,641 in 2016 within the city's administrative limits and a population of 1,401,687 in the metropolitan area, which additionally includes the municipalities of Ciudad Sandino, El Crucero, Nindirí, Ticuantepe and Tipitapa. The city was declared the national capital in 1852. Previously, the capital alternated between the cities of León and Granada. The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake and years of civil war in the 1980s severely disrupted and stunted Managua's growth. It
American Capital of Culture the OAS's countries). It has three major objectives: The initiative was devised and is promoted by the American Capital of Culture Organization, a body set up in 1997, with the objective of promoting the American Capital of Culture and other, complementary cultural initiatives, which help to use culture as a key element in the development of the countries of the Americas. Any territory of the countries of the American continent that wish to develop the objectives of the American Capital of Culture may apply to be chosen as American Capital of Culture. "Territory" is deemed to be any physical area