Nicaragua is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras.
Nicaragua has borders with Costa Rica for 309km and Honduras for 922km.
Land in Nicaragua is extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes.
Nicaraguan land covers an area of 129494 square kilometers which is slightly smaller than the state of New York
As for the Nicaraguan climate; tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands.
Nicaraguan(s) speak Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast.
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Atlántico Norte Atlántico Sur Boaco Carazo Chinandega Chontales Estelí Granada Jinotega León | Madriz Managua Masaya Matagalpa Nicaragua (general) (NU16) Nueva Segovia Río San Juan Rivas |
The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and again in 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated. The country has slowly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Nicaragua, one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest countries, has low per capita income, widespread underemployment, and a heavy external debt burden. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past few years, GDP annual growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs, forcing the country to rely on international economic assistance to meet fiscal and debt financing obligations. Nicaragua qualified in early 2004 for some $45 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative because of its earlier successful performances under its International Monetary Fund policy program and other efforts. In October 2005, Nicaragua ratified the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will provide an opportunity for Nicaragua to attract investment, create jobs, and deepen economic development. High oil prices helped drive inflation to 9.6% in 2005, leading to a fall in real GDP growth to 4% from over 5% in 2004.
Nicaraguan natural resources include gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua
Nicaraguan religion is Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census).
Natural hazards in Nicaragua include destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes.