Nicaragua

The Republic of Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. It is bordered by Honduras and Costa Rica. The Caribbean Sea is to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The capital of Managua is located on the Pacific Ocean side of the country and is the commercial and government hub for the country. Other larger cities in Nicaragua include Leon, Esteli, Matagalpa, Granada, San Juan del Sur, Rivas, Bluefields, Corn Island and Puerto Cabezas.

The people of Nicaragua are primarily mestizo, or mixed Amerindian and white. Over half of the population claims to be Roman Catholic and over 20% of the population is Evangelical.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nu.html

Poverty in Nicaragua is common with 48.3 percent of the population officially classifed as living in poverty, with 17 percent in extreme poverty according to UNICEF.http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nicaragua.html Natural disasters are a common event in Nicaragua stemming from the country's vulnerability to volcanic eruptions, flooding, earthquakes and hurricanes.http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nicaragua.html

Around 6000 years ago, Nicaragua was inhabited by Paleo-Indians. Christopher Columbus was the first European to reach Nicaragua in 1502. The capital, León, was destroyed by the Momotombo volcano in 1610, and then rebuilt northwest.

Nicaragua became an independent republic in 1838 but has had a long history of civil war between the liberal elite of León and the conservative elite of Granada. The United States has a controversial history of political involvement in Nicaragua, which resulted in an investigation of the Reagan Administration, and was known as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Today, Nicaragua is a developing country, enjoying relative peace and a increase in tourism.