Esteli

Esteli is the capital of Esteli department in the northern highlands of Nicaragua, sometimes called the Diamond of the Segovias for its role as a regional commercial center. The surrounding valley is one of the world's notable cigar-tobacco growing regions, developed substantially by Cuban tobacco growers who relocated there after 1959, and the city today hosts numerous cigar factories. Esteli also played a significant role in the Nicaraguan Revolution of the late 1970s, suffering heavy fighting during the insurrection against the Somoza government.