Mosquito Coast

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or Miskito Coast

Region along the coast of eastern Nicaragua and Honduras.

It comprises a lowland about 40 mi (65 km) wide that skirts the Caribbean Sea for about 225 mi (360 km). It was visited by Christopher Columbus in 1502, but Europeans had little contact with the area until the rise of the buccaneers in the 17th century, after which England established a protectorate there. It is named for the Miskito Indians. Spain, Nicaragua, and the U.S. disputed England's protectorate until the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850). In 1894 the region was incorporated into Nicaragua, but the northern part was granted to Honduras in 1960 by the International Court of Justice. The chief town is Bluefields, at the mouth of the Escondido River in Nicaragua.

More on "Mosquito Coast" from the 32 Volume Encyclop�dia Britannica:

Mosquito Coast - coastal region of Nicaragua and Honduras. It comprises a band approximately 40 miles (65 km) wide of lowland that skirts the Caribbean Sea for about 225 miles (360 km). Although it was visited by Columbus in 1502, Europeans had little contact with the area until the rise of the buccaneers in the 17th century, after which the English established a protectorate over the Miskito Indians, for whom ...

Miskito - Central American Indians of the lowlands along the Caribbean coast of northeastern Nicaragua. They were encountered by Columbus on his fourth voyage and have been in steady European contact since the mid-17th century. In the late 20th century five subgroups existed, with a total population of perhaps 70,000.

Gracias a Dios, Cape - extreme southeastern Honduras and northeastern Nicaragua, on an island forming part of the Coco River delta. It marks the end of the most noticeable protrusion of land into the Caribbean Sea between the Yucatan Peninsula and the South American mainland. It lies in the northern section of the Mosquito Coast, which was claimed by both Nicaragua and Honduras until the boundary was settled in 1960.

Central America - Spanish is the dominant language of Central America and the official language in six of the republics; English is the lingua franca of much of the Caribbean coast and the official language of Belize.

Despard, Edward Marcus - British army officer and colonial administrator and organizer of a conspiracy against the British government. Despard entered the army in 1766 and attained the rank of colonel. After serving in Jamaica, he was sent to Central America in 1781; there he was made governor of Roatan Island, off the Honduras coast, and soon afterward of the British Mosquito Coast and Gulf of Honduras.

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