Nicaragua: Background & Geography
| Introduction | Nicaragua |
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Background:
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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. |
| Geography | Nicaragua |
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Location:
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Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras |
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Geographic coordinates:
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13 00 N, 85 00 W |
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Map references:
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Central America and the Caribbean |
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Area:
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total: 129,494 sq km
water: 9,240 sq km land: 120,254 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than the state of New York |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
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Coastline:
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910 km |
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Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
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territorial sea: 200 NM
continental shelf: natural prolongation |
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Climate:
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tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands |
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Terrain:
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extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m |
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Natural resources:
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gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish |
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Land use:
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arable land: 20.24%
permanent crops: 2.38% other: 77.38% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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880 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
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Environment - current issues:
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deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
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Geography - note:
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largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua |