About The Country

• Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the northwest, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Managua is the country's capital and largest city and is also the third-largest city in Central America, behind Tegucigalpa and Guatemala City. The multi-ethnic population of six million includes people of indigenous, European, African, and Asian heritage. The main language is Spanish. Indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English.

• Originally inhabited by various indigenous cultures since ancient times, the region was conquered by the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. The Mosquito Coast followed a different historical path, being colonized by the English in the 17th century and later coming under British rule. It became an autonomous territory of Nicaragua in 1860 and its northernmost part was transferred to Honduras in 1960. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, occupation and fiscal crisis, including the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and the Contra War of the 1980s.

• The mixture of cultural traditions has generated substantial diversity in folklore, cuisine, music, and literature, particularly the latter, given the literary contributions of Nicaraguan poets and writers such as Rubén Darío. Known as the "land of lakes and volcanoes", Nicaragua is also home to the second-largest rainforest of the Americas. The biological diversity, warm tropical climate and active volcanoes make Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination.

• Full Name: Republic Of Nicaragua.
• Area: 130,370 sq Km.
• Largest Country in Central America.
• Slightly Smaller Than New York State.
• Bordering The Caribbean Sea & the Pacific Ocean.                                        

• The flag of Nicaragua was first adopted on September 4, 1908, but not made official until August 27, 1971. It is based and inspired on the flag of the Federal Republic of Central America and flag of Argentina.

• The two Azure bands on the flag and the arms of Nicaragua in use today are the most similar to those used by the United Provinces of Central America. The triangle, volcanoes, rising sun, Cap of Liberty, and rainbow all appeared on the original emblem. The coat of arms used today contains the name of the state, Republica de Nicaragua, whereas in 1823 the title was Provincias Unidas del Centro de America. The decision to revert to the emblems used by the United Provinces of Central America was taken in 1908 and reflected Nicaragua's aspirations for the rebirth of the political entity formed by the 5 nations. Except for the text around the arms, the flag is very similar to that of the United Provinces of Central America. The 5 volcanoes represent the original 5 member states, the Cap of Liberty represents national freedom, and the rays of the sun and the rainbow are symbolic of the bright future to come.

• The presence of a rainbow in the coat of arms makes the flag of Nicaragua one of only two flags of a sovereign state to include the color purple, alongside the flag of Dominica.

• The Nicaraguan coat of arms was first adopted on August 21, 1823 as the coat of arms of Central America, but underwent several changes during the course of history, until the last version (as of 1999) was introduced in 1971.

• The triangle signifies equality, the rainbow signifies peace, the gorro frigio (Phrygian cap) symbolizes liberty and the five volcanoes express the union and brotherhood of all five Central American countries.Lastly the gold words surrounding the emblem: Republica De Nicaragua - America Central (English: Republic of Nicaragua - Central America).

Map of Nicaragua