Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest
country in
Central America, comprising 130,370 km2 (50,340 sq mi). With a population of 6,850,540 as of 2021, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after
Guatemala and
Honduras. Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras to the north, the
Caribbean Sea to the east,
Costa Rica to the south, and the
Pacific Ocean and a shared maritime border with
El Salvador to the west. The country's largest city and national capital is
Managua, the
fourth-largest city in Central America with a population of 1,055,247 as of 2020. Nicaragua's multiethnic population includes people of mestizo, indigenous, European, and African heritage. The country's most spoken language is
Spanish, though indigenous tribes on the
Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and
English.
Originally inhabited by various indigenous cultures since ancient times, the region was conquered by the
Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. The Mosquito Coast followed a different historical path, being colonized by the English in the 17th century and later coming under British rule. It became an autonomous territory of Nicaragua in 1860 and its northernmost part was transferred to
Honduras in 1960. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, occupation and fiscal crisis, including the
Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and the
Contra War of the 1980s. (Full article...)
Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada (
Spanish: Lago de Nicaragua, Lago Cocibolca, Mar Dulce, Gran Lago, Gran Lago Dulce, or Lago de Granada) is a
freshwaterlake in
Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of 8,264 km2 (3,191 sq mi), it is the largest lake in
Central America, the
19th largest lake in the world (by area) and the tenth largest in the
Americas, slightly smaller than
Lake Titicaca. With an elevation of 32.7 metres (107 ft) above sea level, the lake reaches a depth of 26 metres (85 ft). It is intermittently joined by the
Tipitapa River to
Lake Managua.
The lake drains via the
San Juan River flowing east to the
Caribbean Sea, historically making the city
Granada on the northwest shore an Atlantic port, although Granada (as well as the entire lake) is closer to the
Pacific Ocean geographically. The Pacific is near enough to be seen from the mountains of the largest island in the lake,
Ometepe. The lake has a history of Caribbean
pirates who assaulted Granada on three occasions. Before construction of the Panama Canal, a
stagecoach line owned by
Cornelius Vanderbilt's
Accessory Transit Company connected the lake with the Pacific across the low hills of the narrow Isthmus of
Rivas. Plans were made to take advantage of this route to build an interoceanic canal, the
Nicaragua Canal, but the
Panama Canal was built instead. In order to quell competition with the Panama Canal, the
U.S. secured all rights to a canal along this route in the
Bryan–Chamorro Treaty of 1916. However, since this treaty was mutually rescinded by the United States and Nicaragua in 1970, the idea of another canal in Nicaragua still periodically resurfaced, such as the
Ecocanal proposal. In 2014, the government of Nicaragua offered a 50-year concession to the
Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company (HKND) to build a canal across Nicaragua at a cost of US$40 billion, with construction beginning in December 2014 and completing in 2019. Protests against the ecological and social effects of the canal as well as questions about financing have led to doubts about the project. (Full article...)
...that the first woman to be popularly elected as President of a
Latin American nation was
Violeta Chamorro who served her term from 1990-1997 in Nicaragua. As of 2007 she is the only woman to have served in the role?
...that in 1972, nearly 90% of the capital city of
Managua was destroyed in an earthquake?
...that
Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America (19th largest in the world) and is home to the world's only freshwater sharks?
...that Nicaragua's
Bosawas Biosphere Reserve protects 1,800,000 acres (7,300 km2) of Mosquitia forest - almost seven percent of the country's area - making it the second largest Biosphere reserve in the world after the
Amazon in Brazil?
...that most Nicaraguans begin and end every day with
Gallo pinto, a meal of rice and beans cooked separately and then fried together, and that on the Atlantic coast it is common to add
coconut oil to the dish?
...that in the 19th century the United States had plans to build a waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the country. The
Nicaragua Canal concept was abandoned after the U.S. opted to back the construction of the
Panama Canal instead?
Nicaragua is a
unitaryrepublic. For administrative purposes it is divided into 15
departments (departamentos) and two self-governing regions (autonomous regions).
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