Nicaragua is the largest of the Central American countries and contains Lake Nicaragua, the largest of the Central American lakes and the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world. It is part of the Ring of Fire, with over forty volcanoes - many active. The volcanic soil makes fertile farmland, and fields of maize, sugarcane, beans, cotton and, in the higher areas, coffee, dot the landscape. Nicaragua has a varied nature. Hot plains on the West Coast, lush tropical vegetation on the Atlantic Coast and mountains in between. Nicaragua, approximately the size of New York state, is the largest country in Central America. The country covers a total area of 129,494 square kilometers (120,254 square kilometers of which are land area) and contains a diversity of climates and terrains. The country's 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, running between the Golfo de Fonseca and Lago de Nicaragua, occupied in part by the largest freshwater lakes in Central America: Lago de Managua (56 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide) and Lago de Nicaragua (about 160 kilometers long and 75 kilometers wide). These two lakes are joined by the Río Tipitapa, which flows south into Lago de Nicaragua. Lago de Nicaragua in turn drains into the Río San Juan (the boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica), 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. The central highlands are northeast and east of the Pacific lowlands. This rugged mountain terrain is composed of ridges 900 to 1,800 meters high and a mixed forest of oak and pine alternating with deep valleys that drain primarily toward the Caribbean. The Caribbean lowlands form the extensive (occupying more than 50 percent of national territory) and still sparsely settled lowland area known as Costa de Mosquitos. These lowlands are a hot, humid area with coastal plains, the eastern spurs of the central highlands, and the lower portion of the Río San Juan basin. 

On the island Ometepe you are close to paradise; climb one of the two volcanoes if you have good physics. In the archipelago Solentiname the local artists are known for their primitive paintings. Take a tour on the Papaturro River with lizards, turtles and lots of birds. The large region of the Atlantic Coast, known as the Mosquito Coast covers more than 50% of the whole territory.  Very few people live in this vast lowland jungle where rivers are the main form of transport.  Most inhabitants are groups of Miskitos, Sumus and Ramas Indians. The San Juan River which is part of a natural border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica for much of its 180 km course, passes through dense jungle, making it a popular destination for nature lovers wanting to see tropical exuberance in comfort.