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NICARAGUAThe Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt. WHEN TO GO The best time to visit Nicaragua depends on which microclimate you end up in and there are many. Most dive travelers go to the Mosquito Coast on the Caribbean side, often to the Corn Islands where the climate is always hot, humid and extremely wet. On the Pacific side and the highlands, the best time to visit is between November and April, the dry season. FACTS ABOUT NICARAGUA - Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
- Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 85 00 W
- Area: 129,494 sq km
- Coastline: 910 km
- Max elevation: Mogoton 2,438 m
- Population: 5,785,846
- Capital: Managua
- Government: Republic
- Currency: gold cordoba (NIO)
- Internet Country Code: .ni
- Calling Code: 505
- Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
- Languages: Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8%
- Religions: Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5%
- Major Industries: food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood
- Natural resources: gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
- Environmental issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
- Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
- Average sea surface temp: 26 °C
- Average annual rainfall: 2540 mm to 6350 mm along the Mosquito Coast and about 1020 mm on the Pacific side
- Annual tourist arrivals: 1 million
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