Why The Mosquito Coast Has Nothing To Do With Actual Mosquitos
How this historic region got its name
The Mosquito Coast is a stretch of land along the Gulf of Mexico in present-day Nicaragua and Honduras. Most modern people know the region as a destination for various cruise ships, but the area has centuries of history and strategic posturing attached to it. Whenever people hear the name Mosquito Coast, they immediately think that the region is inundated with pesky mosquitos. That is a fair assumption. The Mosquito Coast is a tropical lowland not dissimilar to Florida or Panama, which are swampy and buggy. But that is not the case at all.
In fact, the Mosquito Coast has nothing to do with mosquitos. The name Mosquito Coast came about via transliteration and a forgotten kingdom. The result is a name that is completely misunderstood and misremembered.
The Miskito People
The Miskito are an indigenous ethnic group that still populates the Mosquito Coast today. The Miskito people ruled kingdoms in this region from the time that the Europeans first arrived. The region bounced between Spanish dominance and British control up until the 20th century. Throughout it, the Miskito Kingdom was a cornerstone of the region and was the government that represented the native people.
