20th century, a number of immigrants have also come from Taiwan and Japan. Many men came alone to work and married Costa Rican women and speak Cantonese. However the majority of the descendants of the first Chinese immigrants no longer speak Cantonese and feel themselves to be Costa Ricans. Nicaragua: There are 12,000 Chinese Nicaraguans Chinese people first arrived in Nicaragua's Caribbean coast in the latter part of the 19th century, and most of them settled in cities such as Bluefields, El Bluff, Laguna de Perlas, and Puerto Cabezas. The Chinese immigrants dominated the commerce of the main coastal towns on the Caribbean coast prior to 1879. Then in the late 19th century, they began migrating to the Pacific lowlands of the country. References "Central America". The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2001–6. New York: Columbia University Press. "Central America". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. "Central America" (Archived 2009-10-31). MSN Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. American Heritage Dictionaries, Central America. WordNet Princeton University: Central America "Central America". The Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online. 2006. New York: Columbia University Press.