Nearly one fifth of Nicaragua is designated as protected areas like national parks, nature reserves, and biological reserves. Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Geophysically, Nicaragua is surrounded by the Caribbean Plate, an oceanictectonic plate underlying Central America and the Cocos Plate. Since Central America is a major subduction zone, Nicaragua hosts most of the Central American Volcanic Arc.

In pre-Columbian times, in what is now known as Nicaragua, the indigenous people were part of the Intermediate Area, between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions, and within the influence of the Isthmo-Colombian area. The Pipil migrated to Nicaragua from central Mexico after 500 BC.

Occupying the territory between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Coast, the Niquirano were governed by chief Nicarao, or Nicaragua, a rich ruler who lived in Nicaraocali, now the city of Rivas. The Chorotegano lived in the central region. These two groups had intimate contact with the Spanish conquerors, paving the way for the racial mix of native and European stock now known as mestizos.

In the west and highland areas where the Spanish settled, the indigenous population was almost completely wiped out by the rapid spread of new diseases brought by the Spaniards, for which the native population had no immunity, and the virtual enslavement of the remainder of the indigenous people. In the east where the Europeans did not settle most indigenous groups survived. The English introduced guns and ammunition to one of the local peoples, the Bawihka, who lived in northeast Nicaragua. The Bawihka later intermarried with runaway slaves from Britain’s Caribbean possessions, and the resulting population, with its access to superior weapons, began to expand its territory and push other indigenous groups into the interior. This Afro-indigenous group became known to the Europeans as Miskito.

The first Spanish permanent settlements were founded in 1524. Conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two of Nicaragua’s principal towns in 1524: Granada on Lake Nicaragua was the first settlement, followed by León at a location west of Lake Managua. Córdoba soon built defenses for the cities and fought against incursions by other conquistadors. Córdoba was later publicly beheaded following a power struggle with Pedro Arias Dávila. His tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the ruins of León Viejo.

Roman Catholicism came to Nicaragua in the sixteenth century with the Spanish conquest and remained until 1939 the established faith. Protestantism and other Christian sects came to Nicaragua during the nineteenth century, but only during the twentieth century have Protestant denominations gained large followings in the Caribbean Coast of the country. Popular religion revolves around the saints, who are perceived as intermediaries between human beings and God.

Most localities, from the capital of Managua to small rural communities, honor patron saints selected from the Roman Catholic calendar, with annual fiestas. In many communities, a rich lore has grown up around the celebrations of patron saints, such as Managua’s Saint Dominic (Santo Domingo), honored in August with two colorful, often riotous, day-long processions through the city. The high point of Nicaragua’s religious calendar for the masses is neither Christmas nor Easter, but La Purísima, a week of festivities in early December dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, during which elaborate altars to the Virgin Mary are constructed in homes and workplaces.

Nicaraguan flag.

September 15 marks Independence Day from Spain, a celebration shared with other Central American nations.

Before the official Independence Day, representatives from each country carry a torch from Guatemala to Costa Rica.

United States occupation

Taking advantage of divisions within the conservative ranks, José Santos Zelaya led a liberal revolt that brought him to power in 1893. Zelaya ended the longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom over the Atlantic coast in 1894, and “reincorporated” the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua.

In 1909, the United States provided political support to conservative-led forces rebelling against President Zelaya. U.S. motives included differences over the proposed Nicaragua Canal, Nicaragua’s potential as a destabilizing influence in the region, and Zelaya’s attempts to regulate the access of U.S. corporations to Nicaraguan natural resources. On November 17, 1909, two Americans were executed by order of Zelaya after the two men confessed to having laid a mine in the San Juan River with the intention of blowing up the Diamante. The U.S. justified the intervention by claiming to protect U.S. lives and property. Under pressure from the U.S., Zelaya resigned later that year.

United States Marines occupied Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933, except for a nine-month period beginning in 1925.  Their purpose was to support a conservative government friendly to U.S. business.

Nicaraguan civil war (1926-1927)

From 1927 until 1933, Gen. Augusto César Sandino led a sustained guerrilla war first against the Conservative regime and subsequently against the U.S. Marines, whom he fought for over five years. He was referred to as a “bandit” by the United States government; his exploits made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to United States’ domination. He drew units of the United States Marine Corps into an undeclared guerrilla war.  When the Americans left in 1933, they set up the Guardia Nacional (national guard), a combined military and police force trained and equipped by the Americans and designed to be loyal to U.S. interests.

After the U.S. Marines withdrew from Nicaragua in January 1933, Sandino and the newly elected Sacasa government reached an agreement by which he would cease his guerrilla activities in return for amnesty, a grant of land for an agricultural colony, and retention of an armed band of 100 men for a year.A growing hostility between Sandino and Somoza, however, led Somoza to order the assassination of Sandino. Fearing future armed opposition from Sandino, Somoza took the decision to order his assassination. Sandino was invited by President Juan Bautista Sacasa to have dinner and sign a peace treaty at the presidential house in Managua. After leaving the Presidencial House, Sandino’s car was stopped by soldiers of the National Guard and he was kidnapped at gunpoint. Later Sandino was assassinated that same night on February 21, 1934, by soldiers of the national guard. Hundreds of men, women, and children from Sandino’s agricultural colony were later executed.

Read the full lesson on Augusto Sandino.

Nicaragua has experienced several military dictatorships, the longest being the hereditary dictatorship of the Somoza family, who ruled for 43 years during the 20th century. The Somoza family came to power as part of a U.S.-engineered pact in 1927 that stipulated the formation of the Guardia Nacional to replace the marines who had long reigned in the country. Somoza slowly eliminated officers in the national guard who might have stood in his way, and then deposed Sacasa and became president on January 1, 1937, in a rigged election.

On September 21, 1956, Somoza was shot by Rigoberto López Pérez, a 27-year-old Liberal Nicaraguan poet. Luis Somoza Debayle, the eldest son of the late dictator, was appointed president by the congress and officially took charge of the country.He is remembered by some for being moderate, but was in power only for a few years and then died of a heart attack.

The Somoza family was among a few families or groups of influential firms which reaped most of the benefits of the country’s growth from the 1950s to the 1970s. When Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the third member of the Somoza family to serve as president of Nicaragua, was deposed by the Sandinistas in 1979, the family’s worth was estimated to be between US$500 million and US$1.5 billion.

A 1972 earthquake destroyed nearly 90% of Managua, creating major losses.  Instead of helping to rebuild Managua, Somoza siphoned off relief money. Even the economic elite were reluctant to support Somoza, as he had acquired monopolies in industries that were key to rebuilding the nation.

From 1945 to 1960, the U.S.-owned Nicaraguan Long Leaf Pine Company (NIPCO) directly paid the Somoza family millions of dollars in exchange for favorable benefits to the company, such as not having to re-forest clear cut areas. By 1961, NIPCO had cut all of the commercially viable coastal pines in northeast Nicaragua. Expansion of cotton plantations in the 1950s and cattle ranches in the 1960s forced peasant families from the areas they had farmed for decades. Some were forced by the National Guard to relocate into colonization projects in the rainforest.

Some moved eastward into the hills, where they cleared forests in order to plant crops. Soil erosion forced them, however, to abandon their land and move deeper into the rainforest. Cattle ranchers then claimed the abandoned land. Peasants and ranchers continued this movement deep into the rain forest. By the early 1970s, Nicaragua had become the United States’ top beef supplier. The beef supported fast-food chains and pet food production. President Anastasio Somoza Debayle owned the largest slaughterhouse in Nicaragua, as well as six meat-packing plants in Miami, Florida.

Also in the 1950s and 1960s, 40% of all U.S. pesticide exports went to Central America. Nicaragua and its neighbors widely used compounds banned in the U.S., such known toxins and carcinogens as DDT, endrin, dieldrin and lindane. In 1977 a study revealed that mothers living in León had 45 times more DDT in their breast milk than the World Health Organization safe level.

The Sandinistas took power in July 1979. The Carter administration decided to work with the new government, while attaching a provision for aid forfeiture if it was found to be assisting insurgencies in neighboring countries.Somoza fled the country and eventually ended up in Paraguay, where he was assassinated in September 1980, allegedly by members of the Argentinian Revolutionary Workers’ Party.

In 1980, the Carter administration provided $60 million in aid to Nicaragua under the Sandinistas, but the aid was suspended when it obtained evidence of Nicaraguan shipment of arms to Marxist El Salvadoran rebels.In response to the coming to power of the Sandinistas, various rebel groups collectively known as the “contras” were formed to oppose the new government. The Reagan administration authorized the CIA to help the contra rebels with funding, armaments, and training. The contras operated out of camps in the neighboring countries of Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south.

The Cordoba is the official currency of Nicaragua. The currency was named after the Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, the founder of Nicaragua. The Cordoba is divided into 100 centavos.  U.S. dollars are also widely accepted.

Gallo pinto, Nicaragua’s national dish, is made with white rice and red beans that are cooked individually and then fried together. The dish has several variations including the addition of coconut milk and/or grated coconut on the Caribbean coast. Most Nicaraguans begin their day with Gallopinto. Gallopinto is most usually served with carne asada, a salad, fried cheese, plantains or maduros.

Many of Nicaragua’s dishes include indigenous fruits and vegetables such as jocote, mango, papaya, tamarindo, pipian, banana,avocado, yuca, and herbs such as cilantro, oregano and achiote.