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Nicaragua, largest country in Central America. Nicaragua is sometimes called “the land of lakes and volcanoes,” and the largest lakes in Central America and a chain of volcanic peaks dominate the western part of the country. Lakes also fill the craters of many of the volcanoes. Most of Nicaragua's people live in the country’s western lowlands, where most of the country’s economic activity also occurs. Managua, the country’s capital and largest city, lies along the shores of Lake Managua in western Nicaragua, on geologic fault lines. Severe earthquakes destroyed Managua twice in the 20th century. Nicaragua also has thick rain forests, rugged highlands, and fertile farming areas. Nicaragua probably takes its name from Nicarao, chief of the indigenous people who lived around Lake Nicaragua at the time Spanish explorers and conquerors arrived in the early 1500s. Today, most of the people are of mixed European and Native American ancestry, but the country also has minorities of primarily Native American, African, or European descent. The total population is 5.9 million. Nicaragua's economy is based largely on agriculture, especially on crops grown for export. Coffee is the most important agricultural export, while corn is the major crop grown for domestic consumption. Nicaragua ranks among the poorest nations in Central America, after years of corrupt dictatorship, natural disasters, revolution, and civil war. Nicaragua has had a stormy history, marred by internal conflicts and intervention by other nations, especially the United States. Nicaragua remained a minor part of the Spanish colonial empire from the early 1500s until it gained independence in 1821. Ongoing conflict between liberal and conservative factions made political stability an impossibility during the country’s first century of independence. Armed U.S. forces intervened several times: in the 1850s, when an American mercenary took over Nicaragua, and between 1912 and 1933, when U.S. Marines were stationed there to impose order. More from Encarta For more than 40 years, the Somoza family dictatorship controlled Nicaragua's government and economy, and enriched itself and its supporters at the nation's expense. The Somozas, who enjoyed strong U.S. support, were overthrown in 1979 by the Sandinistas, Marxist revolutionaries who promised social and economic reforms. The Sandinista government made some progress on social issues but fought a devastating civil war through the 1980s against rebels known as contras, who were supported by the United States and Nicaragua's neighbor Honduras. A peace settlement was reached in 1990, and since then democratically elected governments have succeeded one another. Nevertheless, the nation continues to struggle with severe economic problems, disagreements among political factions, and social inequalities.
Nicaragua extends from the Caribbean Sea on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. It is bounded on the north by Honduras and on the south by Costa Rica. Located within the tropics, Nicaragua extends 490 km (300 mi) from east to west and 470 km (290 mi) north to south at its widest points. Rivers form large sections of its northern and southern borders, and its two coastlines together stretch 910 km (565 mi) in length. Its area of 129,494 sq km (49,998 sq mi) makes Nicaragua the largest of the region’s countries. Within its borders lie the two largest lakes in Central America, Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua. Nicaragua's landscape ranges from tropical rain forest and marshes to forested mountain slopes. Western Nicaragua is lined with active volcanoes, and volcanic ash from their frequent eruptions has produced soil that is among the most fertile in Central America. The country is also subject to severe earthquakes.
Nicaragua is divided into three major regions. Tropical lowlands near the Pacific and Caribbean coasts form two of the regions. At the center of the country is a cooler highland plateau crossed by several mountain ranges. The western lowlands, near the Pacific, include Nicaragua’s two major lakes, Nicaragua and Managua. Three volcanic cones rise in Lake Nicaragua. From Lake Managua a chain of volcanoes extends northward. This fertile lowland area, which produces sugar and cotton, is the site of most of Nicaragua’s major cities, including Managua. Farther inland the land rises to a highland plateau of more than 450 m (1,500 ft). Numerous peaks ascend above the plateau, and the country’s highest mountain range, the Cordillera Isabella, crosses the region. Some of its peaks reach heights of 2,100 m (6,890 ft). The lower elevations of this highland region have extensive cattle ranches, while coffee, the nation’s major export crop, grows at higher elevations. There are also small gold and silver mines in the highlands. About half of Nicaragua’s territory consists of the eastern lowlands, which extend 70 km (40 mi) inland from the Caribbean. The eastern lowlands are also known as the Mosquito Coast after the original inhabitants, the Miskito Indians. This region once contained extensive stands of valuable tropical hardwoods, but most of these trees have been cut down. Tropical rain forest covers much of the area, threaded with rivers that begin in the highlands and empty into the Caribbean. The coast is indented with lagoons and river deltas, and islands and coral reefs are scattered offshore. Bananas are grown along river valleys, but elsewhere soils are often poor, and there are extensive salt marshes. Less than 5 percent of Nicaragua’s population, mostly Native Americans and people of African descent, lives in this isolated region. While not on the main storm track, Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast is occasionally struck by severe hurricanes.
Lake Nicaragua, known as the Great Lake, is Central America’s largest, covering about 8,000 sq km (3,100 sq mi). More than 350 islands dot the lake, including the island of Ometepe, which has two volcanoes; the island of Zapatera, now a national park with pre-Columbian sites; and the Solentiname Archipelago, home of a well-known artists’ colony. Lake Nicaragua’s southeast corner lies only 19 km (12 mi) from the Pacific Ocean; the San Juan River connects the lake to the Caribbean Sea. Because of this water link, Nicaragua was once an important route for travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and was considered a possible site for a canal across the Central American isthmus. The Tipitapa River links Lake Nicaragua to Lake Managua, which covers 1,050 sq km (405 sq mi). All of Nicaragua’s major rivers run into the Caribbean. The Río Grande and its tributaries are the most extensive river system, while the Escondido provides a major transportation route between the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The Coco runs along the border with Honduras, and the San Juan begins in Lake Nicaragua and forms part of the border with Costa Rica. There has been limited hydroelectric development on smaller rivers.
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