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.

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. The country's largest city and national capital is Managua, the fourth-largest city in Central America, with a population of 1,055,247 as of 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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Ortega in 2024

José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (/ɔːrˈteɪɡə/; Spanish: [daˈnjel oɾˈteɣa]; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th and 58th president of Nicaragua from 1985 to 1990 and from 2007 to 2025. He previously led Nicaragua as the first Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from 1979 to 1985.

Ortega came to prominence with the overthrow and exile of US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979 during the Nicaraguan Revolution. As a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) Ortega became leader of the ruling Junta of National Reconstruction. A Marxist–Leninist, Ortega pursued a program of nationalization, land reform, wealth redistribution, and literacy programs during his first period in office. Ortega's government was responsible for the forced displacement of 10,000 indigenous people. In 1984, Ortega won Nicaragua's first ever free and fair presidential election with over 60% of the vote as the FSLN's candidate. During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. Throughout the 1980s, Ortega's government faced a rebellion by US-backed rebels, known as the Contras. After a presidency marred by conflict and economic collapse, Ortega was defeated in the 1990 Nicaraguan general election by Violeta Chamorro. (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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WikiProject Central America

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Image 1A railway tunnel in Nicaragua, built under President José Santos Zelaya (1893-1909)
Image 2U.N. map of Nicaragua
Image 3León 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 4A view of Telica, 2011
Image 5Some Nicaraguan cuisine: seafood soup, bread and beer
Image 6A view of Ometepe Island
Image 7Cerro Negro volcano in 2011
Image 8Cathedral in Granada, Nicaragua
Image 9Trees of Life at night on Avenida Bolívar, Managua, 2016
Image 10A bus in the city of Granada
Image 11Rotonda Rubén Darío in Managua

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- High Importance: Culture of Nicaragua, Departments of Nicaragua, Ernesto Cardenal
- Top Importance: History of Nicaragua, FSLN, Iran–Contra affair, Daniel Ortega
- Nicaragua stubs, Nicaragua geography stubs, Nicaraguan people stubs

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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)