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Location: Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea
and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 85 00 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km
water: 9,240 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the state of New
York
Land boundaries:
total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km
Coastline: 910 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 25-nm security zone
continental shelf: natural prolongation
territorial sea: 200 nm
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: 9%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 46%
forests and woodland: 27%
other: 17% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 880 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides,
and occasionally severe hurricanes
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion;
water pollution; Hurricane Mitch damage
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law
of the Sea
Background: Settled as a colony of Spain in the 1520s, Nicaragua
gained its independence in 1821. 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 and again in 1996 saw
the Sandinistas defeated. The country has slowly rebuilt its economy
during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Nicaragua
GEOGRAPHY
Size: Largest country in Central America with
129,494 square kilometers. Land area 120,254 square kilometers.
Topography: Three major geographic regions. Pacific
lowlands or western region characterized by flat terrain broken
by line of active volcanoes between the Golfo de Fonseca and Lago
de Nicaragua paralleling Pacific coast. East of volcanoes lies large
structural rift forming long narrow depression from Golfo de Fonseca
southeastward. Two largest freshwater lakes in Central America (Lago
de Managua and Lago de Nicaragua) also located in rift. Caribbean
lowlands (or eastern) region covers about half of national territory;
this region consists of tropical rain forest and pine savannas crossed
by numerous rivers flowing to Caribbean. Between Pacific lowlands
and Caribbean lowlands are central highlands, most extensive in
north. Western Nicaragua situated at juncture between colliding
tectonic plates, resulting in high incidence of earthquakes and
volcanic activity.
Climate: Warm and relatively humid with some regional
variation; temperature variation mainly function of altitude. Pacific
lowlands generally more salubrious than Caribbean lowlands. East
receives high average annual rainfall; west drier. Rainfall seasonal;
May through October wettest months. Caribbean coast subject to destructive
tropical storms and hurricanes from July to October.
Data as of December 1993
Nicaragua
CLIMATE AND TERRAIN
Natural Regions
Nicaragua, approximately the size of New York state, is the largest
country in Central
America (see Glossary). The country covers a total area of 129,494
square kilometers (120,254 square kilometers of which are land area)
and contains a diversity of climates and terrains. The country's
physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands,
the wetter, cooler central highlands, and the Caribbean lowlands
.
The Pacific lowlands extend about 75 kilometers 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
kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide) and Lago de Nicaragua (about
160 kilometers long and 75 kilometers 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 nineteen kilometers 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 triangular area known as the central highlands lies northeast
and east of the Pacific lowlands. This rugged mountain terrain is
composed of ridges 900 to 1,800 meters 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.
The eastern Caribbean lowlands of Nicaragua form the extensive
(occupying more than 50 percent of national territory) and still
sparsely settled lowland area known as Costa de Mosquitos. The Caribbean
lowlands are sometimes considered synonymous with the former department
of Zelaya, which is now divided into the North Atlantic Autonomous
Region (Región Autonomista Atlántico Norte) and the South Atlantic
Autonomous Region (Región Autonomista Atlántico Sur) and constitutes
about 45 percent of Nicaragua's territory. These lowlands are a
hot, humid area that includes coastal plains, the eastern spurs
of the central highlands, and the lower portion of the Río San Juan
basin. 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.
Data as of December 1993
Nicaragua
Climate
Temperature varies little with the seasons in Nicaragua and is
largely a function of elevation. The tierra caliente, or
the "hot land," is characteristic of the foothills and lowlands
from sea level to about 750 meters of elevation. Here, daytime temperatures
average 30° C to 33° C, and night temperatures drop to 21°
C to 24° C most of the year. The tierra templada, or
the "temperate land," is characteristic of most of the central highlands,
where elevations range between 750 and 1,600 meters. Here, daytime
temperatures are mild (24° C to 27° C), and nights are cool
(15° C to 21° C). Tierra fría, the "cold land,"
at elevations above 1,600 meters, is found only on and near the
highest peaks of the central highlands. Daytime averages in this
region are 22° C to 24° C, with nighttime lows below 15°
C.
Rainfall varies greatly in Nicaragua. The Caribbean lowlands are
the wettest section of Central America, receiving between 2,500
and 6,500 millimeters of rain annually. The western slopes of the
central highlands and the Pacific lowlands receive considerably
less annual rainfall, being protected from moistureladen Caribbean
trade winds by the peaks of the central highlands. Mean annual precipitation
for the rift valley and western slopes of the highlands ranges from
1,000 to 1,500 millimeters. Rainfall is seasonal--May through October
is the rainy season, and December through April is the driest period.
During the rainy season, eastern Nicaragua is subject to heavy
flooding along the upper and middle reaches of all major rivers.
Near the coast, where river courses widen and river banks and natural
levees are low, floodwaters spill over onto the floodplains until
large sections of the lowlands become continuous sheets of water.
River bank agricultural plots are often heavily damaged, and considerable
numbers of savanna animals die during these floods. The coast is
also subject to destructive tropical storms and hurricanes, particularly
from July through October. The high winds and floods accompanying
these storms often cause considerable destruction of property. In
addition, heavy rains (called papagayo storms) accompanying
the passage of a cold front or a low-pressure area may sweep from
the north through both eastern and western Nicaragua (particularly
the rift valley) from November through March. Hurricanes or heavy
rains in the central highlands, where agriculture has destroyed
much of the natural vegetation, also cause considerable crop damage
and soil erosion. In 1988 Hurricane Joan forced hundreds of thousands
of Nicaraguans to flee their homes and caused more than US$1 billion
in damage, most of it along the Caribbean coast.
Data as of December 1993
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