Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a country in Central America.

It has two coasts, one on each ocean side. It has volcanoes and big lakes. The capital city is Managua.

Nicaragua is in the middle of Central America, between Honduras and Costa Rica. It is the biggest of the Central American countries. To the west is the Pacific Ocean and to the east the Caribbean Sea.

Nicaragua's name comes from Nicarao, a chief of the people who lived around Lake Nicaragua about 500 years ago. Most people speak Spanish, and the capital, Managua, is the largest city. Almost everyone lives in the western half of the country, near the lakes and volcanoes.

Britannica characterizes Nicaragua by its agricultural economy, its history of autocratic government and its imbalance of regional development: almost all settlement and economic activity are concentrated in the western half. Nicaragua was, Britannica notes, the only Latin American country colonized by both Spain and Britain. Managua, the capital and largest city, holds about one-sixth of the population.

Britannica estimates about 7,019,000 people in 2026. That is an estimate: the last national census, in 2005, counted 5,142,098 people (Wikidata). Nearly three-fifths of people live in towns and cities. Spanish is the official language, with Miskito, Sumo (Mayangna), Rama and Creole English sharing official status on the Caribbean coast under the 1987 constitution.

Managua is the capital.

It is beside a big lake. León has a huge white cathedral. Granada is an old city on Lake Nicaragua.

Managua sits on the shore of Lake Managua. It became the capital in 1857 as a compromise between two rival old cities, León and Granada, both founded by the Spanish in the 1520s.

León's cathedral, built from 1747 into the early 1800s, is a World Heritage Site, and so are the ruins of León Viejo, one of the oldest Spanish colonial towns in the Americas. Granada lies on Lake Nicaragua. On the Caribbean coast, Bluefields and Puerto Cabezas are the largest towns.

Managua, on the southeastern shore of Lake Managua, was made the capital in 1857 as a compromise between Liberal León and Conservative Granada, rival poles of power since colonial times; Granada traded with Spain via the San Juan River, León with the Pacific colonies. Other urban centers include Masaya and Chinandega in the west, Matagalpa, Estelí, Juigalpa and Jinotega in the central mountains, and Bluefields and Puerto Cabezas (Bilwi) on the Caribbean.

UNESCO's León Cathedral, built between 1747 and the early 19th century to a design by the Guatemalan architect Diego José de Porres Esquivel, marks the transition from Baroque to Neoclassical; it holds a Flemish altarpiece and Antonio Sarria's 14 Stations of the Cross. The ruins of León Viejo, the city's first site, are also a World Heritage Site.

A long line of volcanoes stands near the Pacific.

Lake Nicaragua is so big it has islands. The east is flat, green and very rainy.

A string of about 40 volcanoes, some still active, runs along Nicaragua's Pacific side. Behind them lies a great basin with Lakes Managua and Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America, and a chain of volcanoes crossing it forms islands; the biggest is Ometepe, shown in the photo.

The central mountains reach 2,103 meters at Mogotón Peak. The east is a wide, flat plain with rivers, lagoons and rainforest. It rains much more in the east than in the west.

West of the central mountain core, 40 volcanoes, some active, run northwest-southeast in the Cordillera de los Marrabios and the Pueblos Mesas; the highest include San Cristóbal (1,780 m), Concepción (1,610 m) and Momotombo (1,280 m). The mountains peak at Mogotón (2,103 m) in the Cordillera Entre Ríos. Lake Nicaragua (8,157 km²) is the largest lake in Central America; its volcanic chain forms many islands, the largest Ometepe, and with the San Juan River it has long been discussed as a canal route.

The Caribbean lowlands, averaging 100 km wide, are among Central America's widest, with river deltas, lagoons, reefs and cays on the region's widest continental shelf. The Pacific side has a May–November rainy season and about 1,905 mm of rain a year; the Caribbean side gets almost 3,810 mm, with rain for about nine months. Forests cover more than one-third of the country, the largest in Central America.

Jaguars and pumas hunt in the forests.

Monkeys swing through the trees. Bright macaws and big pelicans fly here. Turtles swim along the coasts.

Nicaragua's forests are the largest in Central America. They are home to pumas, jaguars, ocelots, margays, monkeys, deer and peccaries. Birds range from eagles and egrets to macaws and pelicans, and crocodiles, snakes, turtles and lizards live here too.

But cutting down trees for timber and farms is shrinking the forests, and many animals are becoming rarer. The photos on this page were taken in other countries.

Britannica lists pumas, jaguars, ocelots, margays, monkeys, deer and peccaries; birds from eagles to egrets, macaws and pelicans; reptiles including crocodiles, snakes, turtles and lizards; and many amphibians, fishes, mollusks and insects. It notes that this fauna is rapidly being depleted, and that the forests suffer from poorly regulated logging and a growing human footprint.

Forests contain valuable cedar, mahogany and pine, plus quebracho, guaiacum and guapinol. The animal photos here were taken elsewhere and show the species, not Nicaragua itself.

Most people in Nicaragua speak Spanish.

On the Caribbean coast, some people speak Miskito or English Creole. Baseball is the favorite sport!

Most Nicaraguans are mestizos, with both European and Indigenous ancestors. On the Caribbean coast live Miskito, Mayangna and Rama peoples, Garifuna and English-speaking Creoles, and there their languages are official alongside Spanish. About half of people are Roman Catholic and about a third are Protestant.

Baseball is the most popular sport, with baseball fields all over the country. Nicaragua is proud of the poet Rubén Darío, whose childhood home is now a museum. Farming employs about one-third of workers.

Britannica gives mestizos between three-fifths and two-thirds of the population, whites less than one-fifth, and people of African descent, Indigenous peoples and others nearly one-fourth. On the Pacific side the Monimbó, Subtiava and Matagalpa remain; on the Caribbean coast live the Miskito, Sumo (Mayangna) and Rama, the Garifuna and Creoles, though Spanish-speaking mestizos are the largest group there too. Indigenous languages have vanished in the west, surviving in place-names and nouns.

About half are Roman Catholic and about one-third Evangelical Protestant, with Moravian and Anglican communities on the Caribbean coast. Baseball is the most popular sport, and boxing grew with the success of Alexis Argüello. Rubén Darío's childhood home in Ciudad Darío became a museum in 1943. Agriculture engages about one-third of workers.