Nicaragua

Ballooning over a volcanoNicaragua is the largest of the Central American countries and its physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands, the wetter, cooler central highlands, and the Caribbean lowlands.

The Pacific lowlands extend about 75 kilometers inland from the Pacific coast. Most of the area is flat, except for a line of young volcanoes, many of which are still active, and occupied in part by the largest freshwater lakes in Central America, Lago de Managua and Lago de Nicaragua, joined by the Río Tipitapa, and draining into the Río San Juan, which flows through the southern part of the rift lowlands to the Caribbean Sea. Surrounding the lakes and northwest of them are fertile lowland plains highly enriched with volcanic ash from nearby volcanoes, well cultivated and densely populated, which slowly ascend to rugged mountain terrain composed of ridges 900 to 1,800 meters high with a mixed forest of oak and pine alternating with deep valleys that drain primarily toward the Caribbean. The Caribbean lowlands form the extensive, hot, humid and still sparsely settled area known as Costa de Mosquitos.

Nicaragua Main Regions Information - Information about the regions in Nicaragua.

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