Matagalpa is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 112,697, while the populatio…Matagalpa is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 112,697, while the population of the department is 606,643. Matagalpa is Nicaragua's seventh largest city, the largest in the country's interior, and one of the most commercially active outside of Managua. Matagalpa is known as the "Pearl of the North" and "Land of Eternal Spring."