nicaragua

Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising 130,370 km2 (50,340 sq mi).

The Nicaragua Portal

Republic of Nicaragua
República de Nicaragua (Spanish)
Motto: En Dios confiamos (Spanish)
"In God We Trust"
Anthem: Salve a ti, Nicaragua (Spanish)
"Hail to Thee, Nicaragua"
ISO 3166 codeNI

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...)

nicaragua
The beach at San Juan del Sur taken from the Christ of the Mercy.

San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in southwest Nicaragua. It is located 140 kilometres (87 mi) south of Managua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan families and foreign tourists.

Its population is approximately 15,553, consisting largely of families engaged in fishing, tourism or food and beverage industry and foreigners from the United States, Canada and Europe. While the local economy was, for many years, based on fishing and shipping, it has shifted towards tourism in the last 20 years. In October 2002, to mark the city's 150th anniversary, it was formally designated the "Port of San Juan del Sur" and a "Tourism City of Nicaragua." (Full article...)

Did you know...

  • ...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 one of the world's finest rums, Ron Flor de Caña, is produced in Nicaragua?
  • ...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?

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Departments

Nicaragua is a unitary republic. For administrative purposes it is divided into 15 departments (departamentos) and two self-governing regions (autonomous regions).

(Department capitals in parentheses)

  1. Boaco (Boaco)
  2. Carazo (Jinotepe)
  3. Chinandega (Chinandega)
  4. Chontales (Juigalpa)
  5. Estelí (Estelí)
  6. Granada (Granada)
  7. Jinotega (Jinotega)
  8. León (León)
  9. Madriz (Somoto)
  10. Managua (Managua)
  11. Masaya (Masaya)
  12. Matagalpa (Matagalpa)
  13. Nueva Segovia (Ocotal)
  14. Rivas (Rivas)
  15. Río San Juan (San Carlos)
  16. nicaragua North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (Bilwi)
  17. nicaragua South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (Bluefields)
NicaraguaDepartmentsNumbered.png

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Caribbean SeaCentral AmericaCosta RicaEl SalvadorEnglish languageGuatemalaHondurasList of largest cities in Central AmericaManaguaMosquito CoastNicaraguaPacific OceanSovereign stateSpanish language

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