Nicaragua By Adam Glockl

Geographical Features Some of the biggest cities in Nicaragua are Managua with a population of 1,273,485 being the largest city in the country, Leon has a population of 234,927 and Masaya with a population of 203,847.

Throughout Nicaragua you will find many different climates and terrain. There are 3 main conditions of geographical features in Nicaragua. First off is the Pacific Lowlands.

Most of the area in the lowlands are flat and have active or dormant volcanoes on the coast.

Central highlands is known as the triangular area. It lies east of the Pacific Lowlands. It is full of mountains, ravines, and ridges up to 2000 meters high.

Finally, the Caribbean Lowlands. This section of Nicaragua occupies more than 50% of the population and the land here is very hot and humid that includes coastal plains.

Overall Statistics The population in Nicaragua is 6.35 million. (0.05% worldwide)

The language spoken there is for the most part only spanish. (98%)

The currency in Nicaragua is cordoba’s. (1 CAD = 24.37 NIO)

The surface area of the capital (Managua) is 141,893 square km.

The region Managua is in is Central America.

The unemployment rate in Nicaragua is approximately 6.4%.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country after Haiti. (Up to 50% of people in extreme poverty levels struggling to survive daily)

Government In Nicaragua, the type of government that is ran there is a presidential republic. This is where there is a head of government that runs an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch.

At the moment, the leader in Government of Nicaragua is Daniel Ortega.

Daniel has been the leader of Nicaragua since 2007 and continues to do his job keeping all the people of the country happy and healthy.

Nicaragua gained independence in 1821 which changed the country from a democracy to a independant republic (1838) to a presidential republic (1978)

Geography and Climate in Nicaragua The climate ranges throughout the country from tropical, warm & dry in lowlands, and coastal plains with cooler, wetter temperatures.

The lowest elevation of Nicaragua is at the Pacific Ocean which is at 0m.

The highest elevation is in Mogoton which is at 2085m.

Nicaragua covers 130,000 of square kilometers of area which takes up 0.05% of the overall world. These numbers sound huge but in comparison to the entire world, they are very small.

The average temperature in Nicaragua ranges from 22 to 30 degrees celsius.

In the lower lands it ranges from 27-40 degrees celsius and in the highlands it ranges from 15-25 degrees celsius.

History of the country In 1821, Nicaragua became apart of the First Mexican Empire, then in 1823 it became a part of the United Provinces of Central America.

Nicaragua borders both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean between Costa Rica and Honduras.

The area compares to Pennsylvania in size and is slightly smaller than New York state. 42% of the country is agricultural land, with 25% forest, 30% permanent pastures, then the other 3% is other land.

Key history in Nicaragua: In the 17-18th centuries the British came and explored and spread their influence over the country.

Then in 1893, General Jose Santos Zelaya who was a liberal seized power and made the country a dictatorship.

1910, US troops helped the country depose Zelaya from power to restore the country, following with a civil war 50 years later. After the war brought Ortega into power.

Popular traditions and customs Nicaragua has some interesting traditions and customs. One of the countries is National Air Force Day on February 1st.

This day shows appreciation to all the soldiers fighting for the rights of the country, risking their lives every day in order to keep everyone safe.

Nicaragua also celebrates the first Thursday of April. This day praises Jesus Christ and his greatness of giving life and happiness to everyone.

On occasion, people of Nicaragua will have celebratory meals. They will eat meat and celebrate what they have in hopes to stay healthy and safe.

La Purisima is the most important celebration in Nicaragua. It is a mixture of Christmas, Halloween, and the fourth of July. It is on December 7th celebrating the immaculate conception of the virgin Mary.

Famous people from nicaragua In Nicaragua, there are some very interesting famous people. For example Tony Melendez is a guitarist and singer, but he only has legs and no arms. So he plays the guitar with his feet and still manages to sound good.

Ricardo Mayorga was a very famous boxer that was a two weight world champion. The country enjoyed Mayorga much more than any of the other boxers and a majority cheered for him to win the fights he was in.

Devern Hansack was a major league baseball and also a very influential person to others. He pitched for Boston Red Sox and performed very well.

Food and Beverages in Nicaragua Gallo Pinto is a mixture of fried rice and tico beans that people in Nicaragua almost eat daily. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Tajadas is also a very common food eaten in Nicaragua daily. They are similar to potato chips, but they have a natural sugar coating with a small amount of salt.

Nacatamal is a Nicaraguan version of a tamale. It is a plantain leaf filled with masa (cornmeal dough), and other fillings like meat, vegetables, rice, etc.

Quesillo is one of the most famous lunch foods in the country. It is majorly loved by people of all ages. It is composed of a tortilla wrap stuffed with cheese and cream from a local market.

Popular Tourist Destinations Granada is a very cool tourist destination in Nicaragua that people worldwide seem to enjoy. It is a city that is known as the “Spice Isle” because of the major source of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and cocoa. Granada also features Lake Nicaragua which is a relaxing site for people to admire the nature.

Managua, the capital of Nicaragua has some of the most religious cathedrals in the entire country that are visited by families worldwide daily. Managua also has a Sandino statue near the mountains by the city north of the Cathedral.

Masaya has some beautiful nature as well as Lake Nicaragua and has a real Artisan Market. The main attraction in Masaya is the volcanoes,

Interesting facts about Nicaragua Here in Canada as the national sport is Lacrosse, in Nicaragua the national sport in Baseball.

The name Nicaragua came from the words “Nicarao” and “Agua”. Nicarao is the Indian tribe that occupied the shores and coastlines when first discovering the country in the 1500s, and agua is the spanish word for water. (Main language in the country is Spanish)

Nicaragua gained Independance from Spain after the Mexican Revolution.

The most popular time to visit Nicaragua is in November because that is when the climate is in the middle of very hot and too cool for the people.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in all of Latin America.

The culture in Nicaragua is similar to Spanish speaking American countries.

In Nicaragua, there are no street adresses. A persons address is given by which of the landmarks they live or are near by.

The End

If you didn’t have a very good idea of what Nicaragua was like, culture, etc, I hope that you do now from this

presentation!