Portal:Nicaragua

Republic of Nicaragua
*República de Nicaragua* (Spanish)
Republic of Nicaragua República de Nicaragua (Spanish)
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: En Dios confiamos (Spanish); "In God We Trust"
	Anthem: Salve a ti, Nicaragua (Spanish); "Hail to Thee, Nicaragua";
ISO 3166 code	NI

The Nicaragua Portal

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 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and Honduras, and the largest by area.

Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean and shares maritime borders with El Salvador to the west and Colombia to the east. Nicaragua's largest city and national capital is Managua, the fourth-largest city in Central America, with a population of 1,055,247 in 2020. Nicaragua is known as "the breadbasket of Central America" due to having the most fertile soil and arable land in all of Central America. 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. The mixture of cultural traditions has generated substantial diversity in folklore, cuisine, music, and literature, including contributions by Nicaraguan poets and writers such as Rubén Darío. (Full article...)

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Protests against President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega began in 2014, when the construction of the Nicaragua Canal was about to begin, and several hundred protesters blocked roads and clashed with police during the groundbreaking of the canal. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans began to protest against President Ortega for what they believe to be a corrupt electoral system.

The protests were renewed in April 2018 following the Ortega administration's decree of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute's social security reform increasing taxes and decreasing benefits. Police and the paramilitary groups attacked and killed unarmed protesters, which made people to stand-up. After five days of deadly unrest, Ortega announced the cancellation of the reforms. Since then, Ortega faced the largest protests in his government's history, with the protest movement spreading to denounce Ortega in general and demanding his resignation. Related protests continue to the present day. (Full article...)

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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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Image 1A bus in the city of Granada
Image 2A view of Telica, 2011
Image 3A view of Ometepe Island
Image 4León Cathedral is a significantly important and historic landmark in Nicaragua that was awarded World Heritage Site status with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Image 5Cathedral in Granada, Nicaragua
Image 6Rotonda Rubén Darío in Managua
Image 7Cerro Negro volcano in 2011
Image 8Some Nicaraguan cuisine: seafood soup, bread and beer
Image 9Trees of Life at night on Avenida Bolívar, Managua, 2016
Image 10A railway tunnel in Nicaragua, built under President José Santos Zelaya (1893-1909)
Image 11U.N. map of Nicaragua

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- High Importance: Culture of Nicaragua, Departments of Nicaragua, Ernesto Cardenal
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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)