Masaya Department
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Masaya (Template:IPA) is a department in Nicaragua. It is the country's smallest department by area (611 km2) and has a population of 397,632 (2021 estimate). The capital is the city of Masaya. It is famous among Nicaraguan people for its nickname, "La Cuna Del Folklore" which translates to (The Cradle of Folklore). It is also the site of the Masaya Volcano, an active 635m volcano which last erupted in 2016. The Indigenous inhabitants of Masaya are the Nahuas and the Chorotegas, and was the location of the pre-Columbian Nahua chiefdom of Masatepek.<ref>Vida de González Dávila, Gil. Ávila, c. 1480 – 21.IV.1526. Descubridor y conquistador. et al., 2012</ref><ref>Historia general y natural de las Indias, islas y tierra-firme del mar océano; por el Capitán Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés; Primer Cronista del Nuevo Mundo; publícala la Real Academia de la Historia.- Tomo IV.- Libro XLII.- Capitulo XIII.</ref><ref>Colonización de américa, cuando la historia marcha, de Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo c. 1480 - 1557, 2006</ref> The Nahuas dominate the cultivation and production of cocoa beans in the municipality of Masatepe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>