Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. It lies between Honduras and Costa Rica in the Central America Isthmus. The rainy season lasts from May Until November, and the dry season runs November to April. The ELI programs are based in Granada, the oldest European city in the Americas. Granada sits on the northern shore of Lago de Nicaragua, one of the largest lakes in Latin America.

Not much is known about early Nicaraguans, but humans have left traces dating back to around 6000 B.C. Agriculture became common in Nicaragua around 450 B.C., and local tribes started trading with groups as far away as present day Colombia and the United States. The people left petroglyphs, statues, and traces of their commerce with other peoples. Christopher Columbus first reached the east coast of Nicaragua in 1502 on his fourth voyage to the Americas. In 1522, the Spaniards reached Nicaragua's west coast and in1524 founded Granada on the shores of Lago de Nicaragua. In 1821, Nicaragua gained independence from Spain and fell into civil war until 1852 when Managua was named the capital.

The U.S. dominated politics in Nicaragua in the late 19th century and 20th Century. In 1927, the Samoza family came to power with U.S. backing and ruled for over 40 years. From 1927 to 1933, General Augusto Sandino led a guerilla war against the Chamorro regime and U.S. Marines. The U.S. pulled out of Nicaragua during the great Depression in the 1930s. In 1961, Carlos Fonseca started the Sandanista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to oppose the Samozas. In 1972, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Nicaragua and destroyed 90% of Managua. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Samoza's government mismanaged the international aid money to such a degree that almost all countries in the world cut off diplomatic relations with Samoza and the Nicaraguans revolted. The FSLN finally took power in 1979 and Samoza was forced to flee the country. In 1981, U.S. president Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for their relationship to Cuba and other Marxist revolutionary movements in Latin America. The CIA began training, arming, and financing a group of rebels, mostly made up of ex-members of Samoza's national guard, called the Contras who began a bloody Guerilla war. In 1983, the U.S. congress prohibited federal funding of the Contras in Nicaragua, so the Reagan administration covertly sold weapons in Iran and used the proceeds to fund the contras, the Iran-Contra Affair. The fighting raged on through the 1980s, killing over 100,000 Nicaraguans. Democratic elections were held in 1990, and Violeta Chamorro became the first democratically elected woman president in the Americas. The Nicaraguan economy and infrastructure were in ruins. Wages had dropped 80% during the 1980s, Managua had never recovered from the 1972 earthquake due to corruption and war, and Nicaragua owed billions of dollars in foreign debt. Chamorro worked to build a strong base for rebuilding Nicaragua. The tourism industry is growing, and Nicaragua is on the road to recovery from decades of turmoil.

Quick Facts

Official Country Name: Republic of Nicaragua

Size: 129,494 km²

Population: 5,128,500

Government: republic

Currency: Gold Cordoba, currently US $1 is about 14 Cordobas

Official Language: Spanish