Colonized by the Spaniards, Nicaragua broke away from Spain in 1821 and, after brief membership of the United Provinces of Central America, became an independent republic in 1838. In 1979 the dictator Anastasio Somoza was overthrown by a popular revolution; the new left-wing Sandinista regime then faced a counter-revolutionary guerrilla campaign by the US-backed Contras. In the 1990 election the Sandinistas lost power to an opposition coalition.