Geography

Nicaragua is a country in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica (south) and Honduras (north). Approximately the size of England, it is the largest country in Central America. The country covers a total area of 129,494 square kilometres (120,254 square kilometres of which are land area) and contains a diversity of climates and terrains.

Close to 20% of the country's territory is somehow protected as national parks or biological reserves.

Natural Regions

The country's physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands, the wetter, cooler central highlands, and the Caribbean lowlands.

Pacific Lowlands

Located in the west of the country, these lowlands consist of a broad, hot, fertile plain. Punctuating this plain are several large volcanoes of the Marrabios mountain range, including Mombacho just outside Granada, and Momotombo near León. The lowland area runs from the Gulf of Fonseca to Nicaragua's Pacific border with Costa Rica south of Lake Nicaragua. This region is the most populous. About 90% of the nation's population lives in and around Managua and in the Pacific lowlands.

In addition to its beach and resort communities, the Pacific Lowlands is also the repository for much of Nicaragua's Spanish colonial heritage. Cities such as Granada and León abound in colonial architecture and artefacts. Granada, founded in 1524, is the oldest city in the Western Hemisphere.

The lowlands extend about 75 kilometres inland from the Pacific coast. Most of the area is flat, except for a line of young volcanoes, many of which are still active, running between the Golfo de Fonseca and Lago de Nicaragua. These peaks lie just west of a large crustal fracture or structural rift that forms a long, narrow depression passing southeast across the isthmus from the Golfo de Fonseca to the Río San Juan. The rift is occupied in part by the largest freshwater lakes in Central America: Lago de Managua (56 kilometres long and 24 kilometres wide) and Lago de Nicaragua (about 160 kilometres long and 75 kilometres wide). These two lakes are joined by the Río Tipitapa, which flows south into Lago de Nicaragua. Lago de Nicaragua in turn drains into the Río San Juan (the boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica), which flows through the southern part of the rift lowlands to the Caribbean Sea. The valley of the Río San Juan forms a natural passageway close to sea level across the Nicaraguan isthmus from the Caribbean Sea to Lago de Nicaragua and the rift. From the southwest edge of Lago de Nicaragua, it is only 19 kilometres to the Pacific Ocean. This route was considered as a possible alternative to the Panama Canal at various times in the past.

Surrounding the lakes and extending northwest of them along the rift valley to the Golfo de Fonseca are fertile lowland plains highly enriched with volcanic ash from nearby volcanoes. These lowlands are densely populated and well cultivated. More directly west of the lake region is a narrow line of ash-covered hills and volcanoes that separate the lakes from the Pacific Ocean. This line is highest in the central portion near León and Managua.

Because western Nicaragua is located where two major tectonic plates collide, it is subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Although periodic volcanic eruptions have caused agricultural damage from fumes and ash, earthquakes have been by far more destructive to life and property. Hundreds of shocks occur each year, some of which cause severe damage. The capital city of Managua was virtually destroyed in 1931 and again in 1972.

The Central Highlands

The triangular area known as the central highlands lies northeast and east of the Pacific lowlands. This upland region away from the Pacific coast has a cooler climate than the Pacific Lowlands. About a quarter of the country's agriculture takes place in this region, with coffee grown on the higher slopes.

This rugged mountain terrain is composed of ridges 900 to 1,800 metres high and a mixed forest of oak and pine alternating with deep valleys that drain primarily toward the Caribbean. Very few significant streams flow west to the Pacific Ocean; those that do are steep, short, and flow only intermittently. The relatively dry western slopes of the central highlands, protected by the ridges of the highlands from the moist winds of the Caribbean, have drawn farmers from the Pacific region since colonial times and are now well settled. The eastern slopes of the highlands are covered with rain forests and are lightly populated with pioneer agriculturalists and small communities of indigenous people. Bird life in the forests of the central region includes the Resplendent Quetzal, goldfinches, hummingbirds, jays and toucanets.

The Caribbean Lowlands

Nicaragua's tropical east coast is very different from the rest of the country. These lowlands are an area that includes coastal plains, the eastern spurs of the central highlands, and the lower portion of the Río San Juan basin. The climate is predominantly tropical, with high temperature and high humidity. This large rainforest region, with several large rivers running through it, is very sparsely populated.

The soil is generally leached and infertile. Pine and palm savannas predominate as far south as the Laguna de Perlas. Tropical rain forests are characteristic from the Laguna de Perlas to the Río San Juan, in the interior west of the savannas, and along rivers through the savannas. Fertile soils are found only along the natural levees and narrow floodplains of the numerous rivers, including the Escondido, the Río Grande de Matagalpa, the Prinzapolka, and the Coco, and along the many lesser streams that rise in the central highlands and cross the region en route to the complex of shallow bays, lagoons, and salt marshes of the Caribbean coast.

Around the area's principal city of Bluefields, English is widely spoken along with the official Spanish and the population more closely resembles that found in many typical Caribbean ports than the rest of Nicaragua.

Facts and Figures

• Location: Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
• Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 85 00 W
• Area:
  • Total: 129,494 sq km
  • Land: 120,254 sq km
  • Water: 9,240 sq km
• Land Boundaries: total: 1,231 km
• Border Countries
  • Costa Rica 309 km
  • Honduras 922 km
• Coastline: 910 km
• Maritime Claims:
  • Territorial sea: 12 nm
  • Contiguous zone: 24 nm
  • Continental shelf: natural prolongation
• Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
• Terrain: extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
• Elevation Extremes:
  • Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
  • Highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m
• Natural Resources:
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Copper
  • Tungsten
  • Lead
  • Zinc
  • Timber
  • Fish
• Land Use:
  • Arable land: 14.81%
  • Permanent crops: 1.82%
  • Other: 83.37%
• Irrigated Land: 610 sq km
• Natural Hazards:
  • Destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides
  • Extremely susceptible to hurricanes
• Environmental Issues:
  • Deforestation
  • Soil erosion
  • Water pollution