Pico Mogoton (2,438 m) is the highest point in Nicaragua.

The Republic of Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America.

Lake Nicaragua is Central America's largest lake.

The region of Mosquitia, which stretches along the Caribbean coast from Nicaragua to Honduras, is named after the indigenous Miskito people.

A number of different peoples lived in Nicaragua before the arrival of the Spanish. One group was known as the Niquirano.

Nicaragua is said to be named after a chief called Nicarao. Agua is the Spanish word for water.

The Spanish conquered Nicaragua in 1524.

Nicaragua was ruled by the Spanish for three hundred years.

Leon was the Spanish capital of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821.

The British were involved in the region along Nicaragua's Caribbean coast from the seventeenth century until 1860.

Soon after independence from Spain, Nicaragua, along with other Central American countries, was annexed by Mexico. Following independence from Mexico, Nicaragua joined Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in the United Provinces of Central America.

The USA took an interest in Nicaragua as the Americans were looking for a route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, in 1903 the United States bought the rights to build the Panama Canal in the Republic of Panama.

The election of General Somoza in 1937 saw the beginning of the Somoza family's domination of Nicaraguan politics for over forty years.

A civil war brought the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to power in 1979.

In 1972 sixteen thousand people lost their lives in an earthquake in Managua.

Over a hundred people died in an earthquake, followed by a tidal wave, in Nicaragua in 1992.

Three thousand people were killed in Nicaragua, and many made homeless, by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

At least one hundred and thirty people were killed and homes and infrastructure damaged when Hurricane Felix hit the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua in September 2007.

In October 2006 President Bolanos unveiled Nicaragua's plans to build a canal linking the Atlantic and the Pacific. The work is estimated to take twelve years.

In December 2014 work began on the canal project linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

In November 2016 Daniel Ortega won a third term as president with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice-president.

USAID has provided Nicaragua with assistance through its International Development programme, playing a vital role in areas such as economic growth, education and health.

Nicaragua was one of only four countries in the United Nations that voted against condemning Russia for the invasion of Ukraine in October 2022.