GEOGRAPHY OF NICARAGUA

Many Americans think Nicaragua is in South America. It's not. Rather, Nicaragua is the largest country of Central America, slightly smaller than the state of New York. Honduras lies North, Costa Rica South, the Pacific Ocean West and the Caribbean Sea East.

Nicaragua has three zones: Pacific Lowlands, Central Highlands and Eastern Caribbean Lowland.

Variable and dramatic best describes the geography of the Pacific Lowlands, which extends about 75 kilometers inland from the Pacific coast. The Pacific Lowlands are flat except for the presence of volcanoes. A line of young, active volcanoes runs from the Gulf of Fonseca to Lake Nicaragua. When the volcanoes erupt they usually cause agricultural damage. It is the earthquake that has been devastating to the people of Western Nicaragua. Hundreds of shocks occur annually. Earthquakes nearly destroyed Managua in 1931 and 1972.

Lying east to the line of volcanoes is long, narrow crack in the Earth's outer crust which runs parallel to the Pacific coastline and forms a depression containing Lakes Managua and Nicaragua, the largest lakes in Central America. The land surrounding these lakes is fertile due to enrichment by volcanic ash. Lake Nicaragua is vibrant and full of activity. Lake Managua is "off limits" due to high levels of multiple forms of pollution.

East of the Pacific Lowlands lie the Central Highlands. The Central Highlands contain mountains and valleys. The western slopes of the Highlands are primarily agricultural and well settled. The Eastern slopes receive moisture from the Caribbean Sea and therefore are covered with rain forests. The Eastern slopes are lightly populated by groups of pioneer agriculturalists from abroad and small communities of native Nicaraguans.

East to the Central Highlands is the Caribbean Lowland, which includes the Mosquito Coast and makes up the majority of the nation's territory. Except for land along the rivers and natural levees, the Caribbean Lowland is practically infertile. It is hot and humid and sparely populated.

Nicaragua's waterways have historical significance. Lake Nicaragua's south-western edge lies only 19 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean. The intervening stretch of land is called the Rivas. Lake Nicaragua drains into the San Juan River, which flows Eastward along the southern border of the country, and empties into the Caribbean Sea. Were it not for the Rivas, Nicaragua has possessed a direct waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, this waterway was considered an alternative to the Panama Canal. More than once, the U.S.A. planned on building a canal through the Rivas, thus completing the passageway.

This potential waterway had economic and political significance and became a source of contention between the U.S.A. and Nicaragua, adversely affected the relationship between the two nations for over 100 years.

Primary Source: U.S. Library of Congress